Sierra Brew
by LostinOblivion
Summary: A man has been watching Emily, but now, he wants to be seen. Should she be frightened?
1. Chapter 1

Emily took the coffee all too happily from the clerk at Sierra Brew, the classy little coffee shop that sat only a block away from her apartment, and her frequent stop before work. At least on the days she wasn't passed out in her partner's bed or vice versa; it was a challenge to make it work on those days.

"Hey there, I see you got a medium today. You had a small the other day." A smiling man greeted Emily, as he held the door for her.

She didn't respond, just gave him a startled look that must have carried some of the unease she was feeling in it.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not a stalker." He smiled again, his white teeth shining.

This time, Emily just nodded uneasily, and slid past him, power-walking back to her car.

What the hell was that? Did that man really think his assurance that he wasn't a stalker was enough for her? He was clean, with almost black hair, very blue eyes, and was wearing business attire. Ordinarily that wouldn't have been threatening, though the bright blue eyes against the jet hair was definitely a bizarre look. She shivered involuntarily, no matter, she'd just camp out at Matt's for a few days.

Twenty minutes later she was entering the lobby of the Federal building when an arm suddenly snaked around her waist, and pulled her against a taut, muscled chest. Emily's hand immediately went for her gun, as she used all her strength to break free. Then she turned an saw a surprised and concerned Matt.

"Sorry." She mumbled, sheepishly. Apparently, the coffee guy had her more on edge than she thought.

"Are you okay?" He chanced allowing his fingertips rest against her bicep, and when he felt her body relax, he began to comfortingly run his hand up and down her arm.

"Yeah, just a little on edge."

"From what? Did something happen?" Matt immediately turned very serious, his protective instincts kicking in full force.

"No, nothing…just this guy at the coffee shop seems to know what size coffee I get."

"You mean that pimply kid that drools when you come in? He works there, I would imagine he has some idea."

"No, not Sam. He's harmless. Some other guy who evidently also gets his coffee from Sierra. You know what, it's not important, I'm making too much of it." She held up a hand, and proceeded to the elevator.

"Some guy has been watching you? I don't like the sound of that, he could be a stalker or something." Matt followed her in.

"He said he wasn't." She shrugged.

"Oh that's convincing. Would you believe it if an HT said he wasn't an HT?"

"Of course not, the HT would actually be acting as an HT at the time he told me."

"So was the stalker guy," Matt insisted as they exited the elevator, and walked past Lia and Duff, who were clearly flirting.

"What stalker?" Lia asked, hearing Matt's comment.

"There is no stalker." Emily insisted, before Matt could speak.

"What stalker?" Cheryl looked up from the file she was studying as she walked through the CNU.

"Emily has a stalker." Matt beat her to answering this time.

"I do not!"

"Whoa, why do you think Emily has a stalker?"

"Some creepy guy at the coffee joint by her has been watching as she gets coffee."

"What?" Cheryl looked alarmed now as she turned toward Emily.

"He hasn't been watching, he just mentioned that I got a different size the last time I was in." Emily desperately tried to diffuse the situation.

"That sounds like he's been watching."

"Oh my god," Emily sighed, "he probably just noticed me coming in now and again. In fact it was probably a really lousy attempt at flirting. You all need to just relax and drop it."

Cheryl watched her, thinking a minute, "Okay, we'll drop this on two conditions."

"Which are?" Emily asked exasperated.

"Keep an eye out, and if you see this guy again, you tell me."

"Fine, I will. What's two?"

"Oh this one's easy. Go home with Matt tonight." She nodded in his direction.

All four people in front of her raised eyebrows at that. "Are you encouraging me to sleep with my partner?"

"No, you do that anyway, I just figured I'd put it to use." Cheryl shrugged. "Why? It's not as if you're actually going to argue with me on that."

"I hadn't planned on it, no. I was just kind of amused by that."

Cheryl rolled her eyes and walked back into her office.

The rest of the day went by uneventfully, as did the night. In fact Emily was deliriously happy the next morning after a particularly enjoyable night spent with Matt, who was also quite happy. But, that afternoon she crossed the street away from the FBI building, Lia gabbing by her side, and spotted a familiar face. A very unwelcome familiar face.

"Hey Emily, I didn't see you at Sierra this morning." The man from the coffee shop smiled and greeted her as if they were friends.

"How did you know my name?" Screw being polite, this guy was creepy.

"Oh, the counter girl, Jessica, told me. I'm Stan by the way."

"Good to meet you Stan, but if you'll excuse me, we're getting lunch." Extract yourself from the situation before it becomes a situation, make it clear you aren't interested, Emily mentally coached herself.

"Right, of course. Will I see you at Sierra tomorrow morning?"

"No, I've been staying with my _boyfriend_." She made sure to stress the last word, so he wouldn't miss the mention.

"He's a lucky guy. Take care then Emily." He smiled and called to her, and she power-walked off, Lia watching her nervously.

"Lia, what do you say we just grab sandwiches and bring them back to the office?"

"Yeah, that guy was kind of disturbing, I'm all for that."

Ten minutes later Emily and Lia were climbing out of the elevator, takeout sandwiches in hands, while Emily rolled her eyes and attempted to tune out her friend.

"I don't trust it Emily, the guy's creepy," Lia insisted, trying to get her friend to acknowledge that she may very well have a stalker.

"Leave it Lia."

"Who's creepy?" Max Binder asked, coming out of a room and walking alongside his female coworkers.

"The guy that's stalking Emily."

"He's back?" Matt asked poking his head up from his desk, which they were only feet from.

"We saw him outside, but don't worry about it please," Emily begged him.

Matt didn't say a word, just got up from his chair, walked around his cubicle straight for Cheryl's office. Emily was relieved for only two seconds before she realized why he went into Cheryl's office. Her boss appeared in seconds, walking up to the trio, Matt in toe.

"You saw him again?" She was all business.

"Yes, it was brief."

"He knows her name now," Lia piped in, worried for her friend.

"He what!" Matt was clearly not happy with this new information.

"First, last or both?"

"Uh, I think just first, he said it got it from the girl at the coffee shop." Emily tried to make it sound less weird than it actually was.

"Did you by any chance get his?"

"Yeah, it's Stan."

"Lia, you were with her?"

"Yeah."

"Did he seem threatening to you?"

"I wouldn't say threatening, but he definitely gave me the creepycrawlies. He's obviously been keeping track when Emily goes to the coffee shop." Lia shivered involuntarily.

"Can we please open a stalking case now?" Matt begged, he did not like this guy or his interest in Emily.

"Based on what, Matt? Lia's creepycrawlies? He hasn't done anything threatening." She abruptly turned toward Emily, "Unless you're leaving something out?"

"No, not a thing. It's as benign as it seems, Cheryl." Emily thanked god her boss had sense.

"I can't open a case yet, but I wouldn't call this guy benign. I want you and Lia to go through the California Department of Transportation driver's license photos of Stans. Once you find him, I want everyone in this office and the building's security to memorize his picture. Anybody sees him I want to know."

"Are you serious?" Emily demanded. So much for her boss having sense. "It's really not a big deal Cheryl."

"I'm not taking any chances," she paused watching her exasperated negotiator roll her eyes. "I promise if we don't see him for a few days, we'll drop it."

Emily threw her hands up in resignation, and followed Lia toward the Intelligence Analysis room.

"I don't like this Cheryl."

"Of course you don't, Matt. Some guy has his eyes on your girlfriend. What's to like?" She shook walked back to her office, Matt once again following her, disagreeing that this discussion was over.

"It's more than that Cheryl," he insisted frustrated.

Cheryl turned toward him from behind her desk, "I know Matt. You're in love with her."

Matt was silent a moment, "That's not what I meant."

"You didn't deny it though. Don't give me a hard time, Matt. You go home with her at night, she has a gun, you have a gun, I think she'll be fine. Now, do me a favor and go finish your paperwork." Cheryl tried shooing him out, but he wasn't budging.

"Oh for god's sake Matt, what do you expect me to do? He hasn't done anything, and Emily sure as hell isn't going to voluntarily file a report. All the guards in the building, HRT and everyone in the CNU is getting the guy's picture when they find it. He won't get to her, if that's even his intention."

Matt ran a hand through his hair, "I feel useless."

"Matt, Emily is a heavily trained federal agent, and a very independent one at that. She'll be fine, don't smother her, she'll just push you away, and then I actually will have to start worrying about this weird guy."

"Did you just give me advice on maintaining the relationship I have with my partner?" Matt asked her bemused.

"I told you that if I don't see it, and it doesn't interfere with your performance I don't care. But, Matt, if you start getting twitchy during a negotiation, I'm benching you."

"I won't."

"Anyway, if she breaks up with you, it not only wrecks my best partnership, but I'll have to watch you mope for weeks." She teased, lightening the mood.

"Oh thanks for that. You really think I'd mope?" Was he really that obvious in how much he cared about her?

"I've seen you in your relationships, I know which women you mope over, and Emily? I can only imagine in horror how long that moping would last."

"Well do me a favor and if I ever do something dumb and piss her off, tell her that."

"Do you really expect on doing something that would piss her off?"

Matt raised his eyes brows in self-mockery.

"Never mind." Cheryl forgot, he'd already done that once.

* * *

The next afternoon they had a negotiation, and Cheryl watched Matt like a hawk, even though he was secondary. She was sure this possible stalker situation was unnerving him more than it was Emily. Men never realize that women who live in the city deal with strange, disturbing men hitting on them on an all the time. It just become habit to brush them off, though this Stan guy was certainly more unsettling than the usual ones, simply because he wasn't just noticing her, he was actually watching her.

Stan evidently didn't drive, or at least didn't drive legally. Emily and Lia spent hours the previous day, plowing through the 529 Stans and Stanleys that live in California. Emily had not been pleased, and insisted impatiently that, that was it. There would be no more talk of Sinister Stan as Frank and Duff had taken to calling him. As far as she was concerned Sinister Stan was just a dopey guy that had a crush on her, and that was all there was to it.

"Carrie, are you still with me?" Emily asked the fifteen year-old girl that had taken a Planned Parenthood clinic hostage.

"Yes, I'm here…I can't do this Emily. I just want it out of me!" She begged tearfully through the phone, repeating the same line she had since Emily got on the line with her.

"I know you do, but you're a minor and California has strict rules on abortion. You need to release those people in there, so you and I can have a real talk about how to get you out of this mess? Alright?"

"No, no it's not alright. I don't care about their rules, that's why I have a gun on the doctors, so they'll just do it already!"

"They…" Emily turned toward the crowd absently, struggling for something to tell the young, pregnant girl, and trailed off when she caught a familiar face in the crowd. She stared a minute, saw him smile at her and… did he actually just wave at her?

"Emily? Emily? Emily where did you go!" Carrie's panicked voice brought her back, and she caught Matt and Cheryl watching her nervously out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm here Carrie, I'm here."

"Where did you go?"

"I didn't go anywhere, I just got distracted for a moment. It's busy out here," she covered.

"I'm getting tired, Emily."

"You're due to have a baby in four months, you're supposed to be tired." Emily quickly looked back toward the crowd, immediately seeing that Stan was gone.

"You said you don't have children, do you want them?"

"Sure, someday I would."

"Then take mine," she stated, bluntly.

"W-what?"

"I don't want it, you said you want kids eventually. Eventually just came early. Take it please, I don't want it! Please!"

"Carrie, I can't take your baby." Emily cupped her hands over her face, how did she not see that coming?

"Why not? You have a job, a car, an apartment, you can support the baby. And you said you have a boyfriend, you can even give it a dad. I can't give it anything, not even love. Please, just say you'll take it, and I'll let all these people go!"

"If all you want is someone to take that baby, there are hundreds of infertile couples around the country who would give anything for that baby. Give it to one of them."

"How do I know they'll take care of it, right?"

"Well, how do you know I will take care of it right?" Emily chanced a look at Matt, hoping for some helpful suggestion. He held out empty hands, and mouthed that she was doing good. She rolled her eyes, unconvinced.

"Because, you care enough to spend your life trying to help people like me, you care I can tell. You'd be a good mom to my baby."

Emily pondered that silently for a moment, trying to think of something to say. "You know those couples? They are on waiting lists, sometimes for years before they get a baby, they care too Carrie. They care enough to spend thousands of dollars trying to get pregnant, and then waiting in agony for someone like you to finally decide they don't want their baby. They care a lot more than I do, and they are heavily checked out before they are given a baby."

"Really?" Carrie asked quietly.

"Yeah, and you would get to meet them and pick the ones you want to give your baby to."

"They'll let me do that?"

"Yeah, they'll let you do that, Carrie."

"I didn't want to do this, I just got so scared." She plead quietly with Emily.

"I know you didn't. It's okay."

"I want to come out now." Her voice sounded so tiny that Emily almost didn't hear her.

"All you have to do is drop the gun and walk out."

"But, they'll shoot me!"

"Nobody is going to shoot you, I know all the guys out here, and the last thing any of them want to do is shoot a pregnant fifteen year-old."

"You promise?"

"I promise that nobody is going to try and shoot you."

"Will you meet me at the door?"

Emily turned to Cheryl, posing the question with her eyes. Her boss seemed to think it over for a few minutes, before consenting with a nod and a look that told her to be careful.

"Okay Carrie, I'll meet you by the door."

"I'll watch for you…thanks." The girl hung up quickly.

"Hey, be careful," Matt told her, after she disconnected the call, and started to head for the building.

"Always!" She tossed over her shoulder; she didn't see any threat from this kid.

Emily's fingertips barely fluttered over the knob, when it was suddenly yanked away and a pregnant teenager flew out and into her arms, sobbing. Emily almost fell over from the force of the girl, and but straightened herself, and instructed the sudden throng of people bursting out the door what direction to flee in. Emily looked up, nodding toward Matt and Cheryl before her gaze wandered toward the crowd. She caught a familiar face again, Stan stood front and center, smiling at her with what she recognized disturbingly to be pride.

* * *

_Stalker stories tend to be very plentiful, so I usually avoid them, but the first incident in the coffeeshop is based directly on my own experience. Not to worry, I still get coffee there and haven't seen my creepy guy since. Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'm sorry the other stories are taking so long to write, I don't have too much free time anymore. Reviews are greatly appreciated!_


	2. Chapter 2

You have to be kidding Cheryl, this guy is obviously stalking her!" Matt insisted as he, Emily, Frank, Duff, and the woman he was nearly shouting out stumbled out of the creaking elevator into the CNU.

"He waved Flannery. That's hardly threatening."

"Really Matt, it isn't a big deal. Besides, we're together most nights, it's not as if he can do anything." Emily tried to reassure him, but was beginning to feel very uncomfortable.

"Oh Matt you're so sweet!" Lia ran up gushing, surprising them all, and receiving blank looks from the group.

"Oh?" He was very confused, what had he done?

"Emily, look at your desk, it was just dropped off." She dragged her friend over to the cubicle the couple shared, and pointed at a heart-shaped box with a rose and card on the lid. Emily turned to Matt in surprise, had he really sent her chocolates?

"Oh, I didn't send that." He shrugged, and watched Emily pull out the card, curiously.

"Then who sent it?" Lia wondered allowed to the group that was watching Emily read the card.

"Stan sent it." She made the statement bluntly and without feeling, decidedly uncomfortable, but trying to hide it. In the same disinterested manner, she handed off the card to Cheryl.

"When I eat on of these I can almost imagine what it would be like to taste you, so sweet, so intense, like sex and candy," Cheryl read the card out loud, growing uncomfortable. Matt shifted beside her, growing more tense as she read, resisting the urge to wrap an arm around Emily.

"Okay, now this guy is freaking me out," Frank commented, straightening himself, adopting his protective stance. Lia slid closer to Duff, worry and fear in her eyes, which were focused Emily.

"This is getting bad, Cheryl. Can I open a file on him now?" Matt practically whined.

"No, Temple and Binder can. You're too close Matt."

"As long as somebody does."

"Okay, here's what we're going to do. Emily, go with Temple down to the see the sketch

artists and get us a picture of Stan. Frank go with Binder to track down where the package came from and find out what the shop knows about Stan, Duff visit the coffee shop and do the same. Lia search property listings near the coffee shop for any Stans or Stanleys. He probably rents, but if nothing else at least will narrow the search." She trailed off, before waving them away to do as they were told.

"What about me?" She hadn't given Matt anything to do.

"For now you do your paperwork. But, when Emily leaves this building, stick to her like glue." Cheryl began to walk away, wondering exactly how to word the situation to her bosses. She called over her shoulder, "and toss that box and card into evidence storage!"

Emily didn't need to read those words again, didn't need to be reminded that this man was watching her, and imagining sex with her.

* * *

"His eyes are a little rounder." Emily was not in the mood to play victim. This guy had her freaked out and she was pissed that he could do that.

"Okay, so tell me about the flowers and card today." Temple launched his next question. They had covered, in extreme detail, the first two times Emily encountered Stan, and seeing him in the crowd today.

"Lia appeared, acting hyper and told Matt he was really sweet or something to that effect. He was confused, I was confused, Cheryl was confused, so she told me to come and look at my desk. We got there and found the box and card. I looked at Matt, I was surprised, and he obviously was too. I looked at the card," she shifted, though her body still remained tense. "It said, well, you have it, you know what it said. Then Matt got upset and asked to open a file on the guy, and you know the rest, Jim."

"That's all you remember of everything? Think one more time, nothing is coming back on any of the other encounters?" He coaxed her gently. He could tell she wasn't happy about this from the beginning, and was trying his best to keep her comfortable.

Emily looked up a minute, thinking, "No, nothing."

"Alright," he turned to the sketch artist, who held up the picture. "This is our guy?"

"Yes, that's Stan."

"I'm going to send Lia down to you, don't show her that until after you drew one from her description." He rose, as Emily did the same, both tired from hours at this.

Together the two negotiators headed out the door heading toward the elevators. Emily went to veer off to the door to the stairs when an arm stopped her.

"No using abandoned stairwells when you're being stalked."

"We're two floors down, you'll be with me, what's the big deal?" She was losing her patience very quickly.

"No exceptions at all. Flannery would kill me if something happened to you."

"Since when are you afraid of Matt?" She asked skeptically as they climbed into the elevator.

"I'm not, generally, but when it comes to you he gets a little crazy."

"What are you talking about?"

"Duff called you a bitch once, trying to get Matt's goat, so Matt lays down his gun down, ready to fist fight him. Frank held him off, assuring him that Duff could kill him in a fight, and Matt says 'so'." He looked over at her, shrugging.

Emily rolled her eyes, and commented, "men."

Temple shrugged again as the elevator spit them out into the CNU, where they ran into Frank, who was on his way to the basement, his personal territory.

"Did you guys find anything?" Emily asked hopefully.

"Found a gift store- florist that carries this, but he doesn't remember the specific purchase. Sorry."

"Thanks anyway Frank."

"Anytime Lehman." He winked playfully, and dove into the elevator.

"Where's my sketch?" Cheryl greeted them, passing by the office full of cubicles.

"Malone still has it, I told him I'd send Lia down to him to, maybe tweak it some."

Cheryl thought a minute, "No, she's only seen the guy once, Emily saw him three times, we aren't going to get it more accurate from a photo."

"You sound tense." Temple watched his boss act fidgety, very unlike Cheryl.

"Of course I'm tense, this all gives me a very bad feeling."

"You think he'll actually try to hurt her?"

"Hello, I'm right here," Emily reminded them loudly of her presence, her annoyance growing by the minute.

Cheryl turned toward her in acknowledgement, and then back to Temple. "I don't know, but I don't want to take any chances."

"You're not thinking protective custody yet, are you?" He seemed surprised by the idea.

"I'm not doing that," Emily insisted before Cheryl could answer.

"I wasn't going to suggest it, but I'm still contemplating a detail."

"I thought that was what Matt was for?"

"It might be difficult for him to play bodyguard when he's spooning you." Though it was said in part for comic relief, Cheryl was completely deadpan.

Emily stared at her boss long enough for her companions to wonder if that comment offended her, before a small smile graced her face and she shot back, "easier than sexual tension."

"Touché." Temple applauded laughing.

"Agreed, but I still might want to send that detail home with you."

"He hasn't threatened me, he's just some squirmy little creep."

"Yes, and squirmy little creeps don't handle rejection well."

"She has a point, Lehman. When this guy realizes you have no intention of dumping Flannery for him, he might try something."

"Then I'll shoot him, or Matt will."

"Something is just telling me to be very cautious with this. I mean, he made it pretty clear he wants to have sex with you," Cheryl explained honestly.

"Yeah, I get that. There's something about this that feels wrong," Temple agreed.

Emily rolled her eyes at them. "A lot of men have wanted to have sex with me, Cheryl, as I'm sure you can relate, and did all of them get to?"

"Of course not, but this is different. He's a stalker, he's clearly unhinged, he probably won't want to take no for an answer."

"And that's where a gun and an armed boyfriend are useful." She tried to joke, but it fell flat. She was scared after today, but refused to admit it.

"So are you thinking of sending Frank and Duff to watch her apartment- or Matt's?" Temple quickly amended his statement, realizing that it was entirely possible she spent more time at her partner's apartment.

"I don't know yet…do you have those statements? I want to go over them."

Emily watched them go back to their status of talking about her like she wasn't there or some child that incapable of speaking for and protecting herself. Shaking her head in annoyance, she turned around and walked out of the CNU back toward the elevators. She hit the button multiple times, willing it to come by pounding on the keys, and waited impatiently. When it took too long she turned to go to the stairs, but was stopped by the sound of Temple's voice in her head. Way beyond just annoyed or even aggravated at this point, she hit the roof button on the elevator after it finally came, eager for the quiet sanctuary.

* * *

**Two Hours Later**

"Here, stack of paperwork, correction completed paperwork," Matt announced dumping the stack on Cheryl's desk.

"You actually did it for once?" Temple asked in amused disbelief. He and Cheryl were combing through everything Emily said, and the statement they'd gotten from Lia an hour ago.

"Yeah…where's Emily?" Matt wasn't surprised to see Temple in the office, but was surprised to not find Emily in it.

"What do you mean? She's not at her desk?" Both had assumed Emily had returned there when she disappeared from their conversation.

"No, I haven't seen her since before you took her to the sketch artist."

"I'm sure everything is fine," Cheryl tried to convince herself and them, as she picked up her phone and dialed the negotiator's cell.

There was no answer. She dialed another.

"Mathers."

"Lia, is Emily with you?"

"No, why? What happened?"

"Nothing that I know of yet, I'll let you know." She distractedly hung up the phone.

Matt was already dialing another on his phone, while Temple stepped into the CNU floor.

"Has anyone seen Lehamn in the last two hours?" He bellowed, startling his coworkers, who offered nothing but headshakes and shrugs.

"Thanks Frank, call me when you know." Matt snapped his phone closed and stared at Cheryl.

"She isn't with HRT then?"

"No, but Frank's sending one of his guys to check the parking lot, see if her car is there."

Cheryl dialed a fourth number, hoping to get some reassurance.

"Security Office," a gruff voice answered.

"Hey, Ben it's Cheryl, listen can you radio your men and see if any of them has seen Agent Lehman leave?"

"No problem. Is she okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sure, just being cautious."

"Right hang on." The FBI's cheesy music came on, ringing in Cheryl's ears for several minutes until Ben came back on the line.

"Sorry, my guys haven't seen her."

"Ok, thanks Ben." She hung up. "None of the guards saw her leave."

"So either she's still in the building…"

"Or somebody got her out undetected. Great." Matt ran a hand through his hair.

"Don't start panicking Matt," Cheryl warned him, once again dialing Lia, just as Duff appeared at her office.

"Mathers."

"Hang on a minute Lia." She placed a hand over the phone.

"Her car's still there."

"Okay, go find Frank. I need him to get HRT ready move. We may have a missing agent."

"What!" Lia squawked through the phone.

Cheryl went back on with her as Duff left. "We can't find Emily. Listen Lia, I need you to pull up her phone records, anything incoming or outgoing within the last two hours. And have some people start plowing though the security footage."

"Sure of course. Do you think he…do you think she…?" Lia's voice became thick with worry.

"I don't know and I'm not going to speculate." She hung up before Lia could ask her anymore questions she couldn't answer.

"Come on Em, pick up," Matt pled, waiting for the phone to ring.

She didn't. The call went right to her voice mail.

"Alright, Matt keep calling her, Temple put out word in the building that we have an agent missing." Cheryl instructed them as Matt hung up and dialed again and Temple left the office.

**

* * *

****An Hour and a half Later**

Matt was on the verge of panic, Cheryl was trying to have a conversation with her boss, who was horrendously pissed that they managed to lose on of the Bureau's best agents, Frank was perched at the door, waiting for instruction, Lia was making her coworkers nervous, watching them search tapes for traces of Emily, and Temple and Binder were sitting at their cubicle, feeling quite useless.

Just as Matt was about to start pacing yet again, a familiar figure wandered into the CNU, wondering why everyone was still there, and why they all looked so tense. It was after six by then, they should have all been home, enjoying the absence of any crisis to solve. Then they noticed her, and it became clear that something was very wrong.

"Emily! You're alright!" Temple exclaimed, relieved, his voice carrying to Cheryl office, sending four more people stumbling out hurriedly.

"Lehman where the hell have you been?" Frank demanded.

She stared in shock at them, before Matt said to hell with Cheryl's PDA in the office rule, and swept her up into his arms. She was alive and unharmed, for the next five minutes that's all that mattered. When he finally released her, she was once again faced with something that looked oddly like an inquisition.

"What the hell happened here?" She wondered.

"What do you mean? You disappeared for damn near four hours, Emily." Cheryl went from looking relieved to ready to kill her unless she had one damned good excuse.

"I got stuck up on the roof. They decided to keep it locked about a month ago, I haven't been up there in awhile and forgot." She kind of shrugged, trying to reassure her friends and coworkers that it wasn't a big deal.

"How about answering your phone?" She was not impressed with her subordinate's excuse.

"Uh, there's no reception up there, or I would have called Matt to let me in. Tony Baker from the OC Unit let me in."

"What were you doing up on the roof? Wait, why would you ever go up there alone with Sinister Stan sending 'I want to taste you' letters?" Frank asked.

"It's really not a big deal, I'm sorry I worried all of you."

There was silence a minute as everyone began to wind down from their state of hyper-vigilance and expecting the worst.

"Well then, here is how this is going to go. Everybody can go home now, thank you for staying. You, Emily aren't to go anywhere without telling at least two people, unless you go with someone, then you only have to tell one. Don't argue, it's only until Stan is caught or gets the hint that you're not interested. I have to go and explain to my boss how you managed to get yourself stuck on a roof and why I felt the need to send the alert that you were missing." Cheryl walked back to her office shaking her head in exasperation, while everyone else managed to disperse.

"Well, this was embarrassing." Emily commented, picking up her badge and stowing her things in it.

"That's it?" Matt hadn't spoke the whole time, but now he did.

"What?"

"That's all you have to say?"

"What am I supposed to say? I said I was sorry."

"Yeah, for making us worry. But how about for going up on that roof, and for not telling anyone?" They were beginning to grow louder and draw the attention of their coworkers.

"I'm not going to apologize for going to the roof, and I wasn't aware I needed permission to go anywhere." Her tone was chilled, and growing icy.

"Don't be a smart-ass." Matt sounded just as angry.

"No really, why not just stick a GPS locator in my bra?"

"Not funny."

"Do you see me laughing?" She had her hands on her hips now, and Matt looked around at their coworkers, before grabbing one of her arms, and leading her off, inside interrogation 2.

"Don't you get what's going on Emily?"

"Evidently not."

"You. Are. Being. Stalked. You just disappeared damn it! What do you think we thought happened to you?!" He let it all out now that they were alone.

"I know that Matt! I know he's watching me! But I can't do this! I don't want to play the victim! Okay? It's not my part, I can take care of myself!"

"I know that! But, it's never stopped me from wanting to protect you though and it never will!"

"Matt, I was the roof of a building packed with Feds. What was he going to do hang-glide onto the building?"

"Don't turn this into a joke Emily, I thought he finally got a hold of you. He could have been doing anything to you, beating you, killing you, raping you-"

"Matt! I really don't need to hear that!"

"No, I think that's exactly what you need to hear! You need to be scared right now, because at least then you'll be careful." He began to quiet down a bit.

"I am scared Matt, and I hate that he has me freaked out. And I hate that he has everyone else freaked out. More than that I hate that you all suddenly think I can't take care of myself. You treat me like some defenseless child."

"We don't think that Em. We just worry."

"I know that, and it's sweet, but-"

"No, don't do that. Don't talk like this is some high school crush between us. It's not sweet Em; it's primal. You protect the people that mean everything to you, and you…you're everything and then some." He brushed her hair behind her ear, looking intently into her eyes.

"I just feel smothered with all this, Matt. Stan's watching me, and now you're all watching me and keeping track of my movements. I can't pretend it doesn't make me want to just bolt."

"Alright, there isn't much more we can do on this anyway. Come home with me, and everybody will relax a little bit." He took her hands in his, trying to reassure her.

"I had planned on doing that anyway," she teased him, smiling and wrapping her arms around him.

"Great, then let's get the hell out of here." Instead of moving he reciprocated the hug, holding her tightly.

That evening they went home together, after both assured Cheryl and company that they'd be fine without a protective detail. They agreed without much of a fight, everyone feeling kind of silly after the panic when she disappeared.

Their evening was quiet and slightly dampened by tension. Matt was still worried that Emily wasn't taking Stan seriously enough, though he wasn't about to say it. Emily knew he was worried, and still felt smothered, but didn't say anything, because she knew if some woman was stalking Matt, she'd act much the same way he was. Needless to say, they turned in early, but didn't fail to wrap snugly around each other, tension be damned.

Emily jolted awake two hours and thirteen minutes later, hearing of cell phone screaming it's happy tune. Who the hell? Had to be Cheryl with a case, nobody else would call at this hour.

"Lehman?" She whispered groggily.

"Hello Emily," a smooth baritone answered.

"Who is this?" Her demand broke the whisper barrier.

"A friend. Did you enjoy the chocolates?"

"No, and I didn't appreciate the card either. Who are you?"

"I told you, a friend," his smooth, calm tone never wavered.

"Friends don't send cards like that." She wasn't going to back down, even as she heard Matt stir beside her.

"I just wanted to hear your voice Emily, I can almost picture you in my mind." He seemed enthralled by the image he spoke about.

"Em, is that Cheryl?" Matt asked hoarsely, his voice not working properly yet.

She shook her head, and went to say something.

"You're still with him. That's disappointing, you could do better. Goodnight Emily." He whispered goodnight like a lover would, before she heard a click over the line.

"Em? Who was that?" Matt watched her stare into the dark of the bedroom, as she click her phone closed.

"Stan."

Matt's mouth opened and closed a minute, before he asked, "What did he say?"

"The usual, he's a friend, did I like the chocolates, that he wanted to hear my voice so he could visualize me, that he was disappointed that I'm with you. He seems to think I could do better."

"We better call Cheryl."

"Not at a quarter to three we aren't, this can wait until tomorrow."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. What is she going to do now anyway?"

"Good point, alright, back to bed, we'll go in early tomorrow." He slid back down, and lifted his arm so she could slide in against him.

"Glad we agree," she answered as she copied his action, shimmying against him.

* * *

_I'm trying to go quick with this one so I can get back to the other two, which will probably be on hold until next week. Thanks for all the reviews, I was suprised (very happily so) to see so many. _


	3. Chapter 3

"So now he knows your phone number? That's just perfect. How the hell did he get it, and how the hell did he know you were with Matt?" Cheryl was not happy to get this particular news first thing in the morning. This little creep was really starting to piss her off.

"I don't know how he got it, it isn't listed, but I suppose he's been watching me closer than we thought." Emily was again, trying to play the incident down. Clearly Cheryl wasn't buying it this time.

"And following you. Okay that's it. You don't move another inch without a detail. And don't even think of arguing, or I'll throw you in protective custody instead."

Emily held her hands up in defense, "fine, I won't."

"Good." Cheryl's fingers danced along the numbers on her phone a moment as she regarded the pair in front of her. Matt was being very quite, almost too quite.

"Rogers." Frank answered, moving away from the gunshots in the background.

"Frank, I need you to pick your six best agents, and I want you and Duff up here with them in ten minutes."

"Sure, we have a crisis?"

"Not quite." She could hear the smile in the HRT Commander's voice, and he undoubtedly could hear the tension in hers.

"Is everything all right?"

"No." She hung up, and turned back to Matt and Emily, demanding of her former partner, "Why are you so quiet?"

Matt shrugged, "You're giving her protection, I have nothing to argue about. And you already know that I'd like nothing more than to put a bullet between Stan's eyes. Not a whole lot left to say on the subject."

Cheryl looked to Emily, not quite believing him. The negotiator shrugged, as her partner did, seemingly calm.

"Ok, what is going on with you two? You're being way too complacent." She crossed her arms over her chest and stood demanding an explanation.

"Being woken up in the middle of the night will do that to you," Emily grumbled. She had not slept well after that phone call, and neither had Matt.

Cheryl nodded, accepting her explanation, "We're going to the conference room."

She led the way, and once inside the trio waited a few minutes before HRT showed up, clad in full battle gear.

"So, what's going on?" Frank greeted.

"It's become clear that Stan has been following Emily. I want two HRT agents watching her at all times. The three sets can switch off in eight-hour shifts. When she is in this building they can hang out in the basement, unless she leaves this floor. If she stays in the building, only one needs to follow her around. She leaves, both go with her. At night, I want two agents watching outside Matt's house. Everybody follow that?"

She received nods all around. "There's one other thing. If Matt and Emily are ever in two different places, unless he's here, I want one of the agents to stay with Matt."

"What?" Matt blurted as he and all eight HRT men looked at her in surprise, Emily nodded her head in agreement.

"I'll let our resident shrink explain that." Cheryl nodded to Emily.

"In stalking cases the subject fixates not only on their victim, their target, but also anybody close to the victim. Friends, family, significant others, they learn about them also. When they are rejected by their victim, they may turn their anger toward the person they blame for this. Often this is the victim's spouse or someone they're dating, i.e. if Stan feels rejected, he might try to hurt Matt."

"I don't need protecting Cheryl," Matt insisted.

"Now he argues, of course it couldn't last," Cheryl mumbled. "Suck it up Matt." She turned and walked out of the conference room, on the way back to her office.

"Come on Cheryl, I don't need that, you should have it focused all on Emily." Matt followed her, Emily beside him.

"Matt don't argue with me, or I put Emily in protective custody, so you won't see her again until we catch Stan, and god only knows how long that will take." She stopped and looked at him, the threat burning in her eyes.

"Hey!" Emily did not like being used as a bargaining chip.

"That's blackmail," Matt pouted, knowing she'd just silenced his argument. She was right it could take a week or more to catch Stan, and he didn't really want to go that long without seeing Emily.

"I don't care if it keeps you quiet." She retreated into her office.

Matt and Emily turned to find Frank and Duff laughing behind them.

"Is that all we have to do to control you Matt? Threaten to take Emily away for a while?" Frank was laughing as he joked.

"Shut up, Rogers." Matt spit.

He held his hands up, "easy man, just joking."

Duff pretended to get serious, "yeah, yeah, it's you know, cute you're so attached." He couldn't keep a straight face and burst out laughing.

"Is that so? And what if Lia disappeared with HRT for two weeks, no phone calls, no emails. Wouldn't you miss her?" Emily demanded, hands on her hips.

Duff sobered up, and offered a mumbled response, "yes."

"That's what I thought. Grow up guys." She shook her head and turned to head to her desk.

"Hey, wait Lehman, you need babysitters!" Frank called, stopping her.

"Right, forgot."

"Ok, Finnegan and Stalwart are up now, Grant and Gable you two take over at four, and Haussman and Krieger take over at midnight. Eagle eyes boys, and I don't care if you have to get a triple extra grande with four shots of espresso, nobody sleeps on the job. You screw up this one and I'm going to take it very personally. Got it?"

All six nodded in the affirmative at their commander, knowing full well he meant what he said. These were his friends they were charged with protecting, if they screwed up and something happened to one of them, the guilt would be enough to send them packing.

* * *

That night the negotiators were extra tired from the late night phone call, and passed out easily. The protective detail was less invasive than they had expected, and they'd even invited their protectors in for pizza and poker. Now Agents Sam Grant and Bobby Gable were working their last hour before their relief would come.

Hours later, Emily was once again awoken in the night by the distinctive ring of her cell phone. Groggily she eased out of sleep, her mind lighting up to awareness at the recognition of her ringtone. Apprehensively, she lifted the phone and hit the green button.

"Lehman."

"Emily, so nice to hear your voice." The same silken voice from the night before answered.

"What do you want?"

"That's no way to speak to a friend." His reprimand came in the same smooth voice that seemed to wind around her, causing her to squirm to shake it off.

"You aren't a friend."

"No, I'm more. I'm your soulmate Emily. Our minds and bodies belong together."

"I'm already involved with someone."

"It isn't the same Emily, and you know it. You know he isn't the one, he doesn't understand you like I do, nobody could ever understand your past, what you've been through, your sister. But, I do, Emily." He whispered his promise in her ear and it felt like he could have been right next to her saying it.

"Oh do you?" Momentarily shaken, Emily refused to back down.

"Yes, I grew up lonely, just like you did. I watched a secret eat at my family, just like you did. I know why you don't trust anyone, and I know you don't trust him."

"See there you're wrong, I do trust Matt. And, I do trust people, maybe not as much as I should, but I still do," she grew upset as she defended herself, not liking how much he knew about her, and how well he thought he knew her.

Much like the night before, Matt stirred beside her, waking to see her on the phone as he had the previous night. He flicked on the light beside the bed, alerting the agents outside.

"You know you don't Emily. You're just pretending you do." She heard a click and the line went dead.

"Was that him?" Matt asked.

"Yeah." Seconds later the phone by the bed rang.

"Flannery."

"Hey, we saw the light go on, everything okay in there?"

"Yeah, just another call from Stan."

"Want us to inform Frank?"

"No, we'll inform everyone in the morning."

"Okay, we'll see if we can set up a tracer in there tomorrow."

"Great, thanks." Matt hung up and turned back to Emily, who was still staring off into space, much like she had the night before.

"He's been doing his homework," she mumbled.

"What do you mean?"

"He knows about my past Matt, he knows about my sister."

"That's not a shock after last month, the press leaked that." He tried to reassure her.

"No, it was more than that Matt. It was like he knew me before or something…You know what, I don't know what I'm saying, I'm tired." She smiled, and lied through her teeth, once again playing down her fears.

* * *

**The Next Night**

The day had progressed much as the first one. First with a session of rehashing the creepy phone call with Cheryl, and then with Frank. Then they discussed the equipment that would be taken to Matt's house to set up a trace, and the plan for the night. Finally, to Emily's relief they were allowed to go to work, or as she sarcastically put it, 'that whole negotiating thing that they used to do.' The adrenaline pumping, stress-laden, discussion sessions with armed and severely unhinged people that was their everyday.

Emily missed that terribly. Which was odd considering she'd been primary in one two days before, but it just felt like it was so long ago. This mess with Stan had taken over her life, all their lives really, and everyday it was messing with her head more and more. She was acutely aware of every sound and every movement in whatever room she was in, and hadn't been alone, except to pee and shower, for two days. She was afraid, and it pissed her off to no end, but even more infuriating was that she couldn't stop replaying his words over in her head. He'd actually gotten her questioning her relationship with Matt.

"Okay, you're set up here," Lia announced, as she finished tinkering with the gismo that would reveal Stan's whereabouts.

Lia, Emily, Matt and Frank were all gathered in Matt's bedroom, not something any of them expected to happen. Cheryl and Duff were in the living room with the four of Emily's guards that were watching at night, informing them on what was going on.

"Alright, everything is all setup in the bedroom," Frank announced as the group of four joined the group of six.

"That sounds very kinky." Duff tried a joke to lighten the mood. It backfired.

"Shut up." A chorus chirped at him, memories of the couple's nonconsensual sex tape all too fresh.

"On that note," Cheryl began, noting the tension was getting worse by the day, "if everything is all set here, it's time we were all going. You two are okay?" She looked toward Matt and Emily.

"Yeah, we're good." Matt insisted feeling Emily tense up beside him. If this went on much longer she was going to end up biting heads off.

* * *

That night Emily's phone did ring again, yanking her out of sleep for the third night in a row.

"Lehman."

"How are you tonight, Emily?"

"Tired, some idiot keeps calling and waking me up." She was pissed and not bothering to hide it, as she scrambled pressing buttons on the machine to tap and trace the call.

"That wasn't nice Emily. I know you thought about what I said."

"Yeah, you're right I did. And you know what? I still think you're wrong."

"I know you want to believe that you love him Emily, but you and I both know that's not really true."

"Oh and why do you think it's not true?"

"Because, you aren't capable of it." His tone wasn't accusing, but the same soft, calm tone that was so silky it made her skin crawl.

"I'm not capable of loving someone?" She asked surprised.

"No, but you've known that for years."

Emily was silent a moment, stunned at his audacity, "Then how exactly could I love you?"

"You and I are the same, we can understand each other."

"I'm nothing like you. I don't follow people, I don't call people in the middle of the night, and I don't tell people I want to taste them!" She began getting worked up and quiet loud. Matt was up like a shot, flicking on the light to alert the agents outside, and coming to stand by her side.

"Shhh, don't worry Emily, you're safe with me," the still calm voice cooed into her ear.

"If you're so convinced we're a match made in heaven, then show yourself. Come out here and talk to me face to face damn it!"

"Not yet, you aren't ready. But soon, I promise I'll be there for you soon, and you'll be safe."

"Not ready? Are you serious? What do I have to be ready for? What makes you so damned special!" She felt a hand on her shoulder and shrugged it off.

"Shhh, mon amant. Shhhh…" he tried to sooth her again.

"Don't you get it? I don't love you. I don't even know you! And I don't want to know you. I don't want to meet you. I don't want to hear your voice ever again. I will never love you," she told him firmly, hoping the harsh rejection would dissuade him.

"Don't say that Emily. I will always love you," he whispered before hanging up.

She growled and threw the phone on the bed in frustration, turning to the computer-tracer to see if it found him. She was certainly on long enough.

"Easy Em, it's okay."

"No it's not. It didn't come up with anything; he's blocking it. Shit!" He tried to put an arm around to calm her, but his phone rang.

"Flannery."

"Hey, it's Frank, the guys said they saw a light go on. Did you get a trace?"

"No, he was blocking it."

"Fuck. How's Lehman?"

"Not great, this needs to end soon."

"Man, from your mouth to god's ears."

"Yeah, listen nothing can be done tonight. Usual routine in the morning?"

"Yep, get some sleep man, and keep an eye on Emily."

"You know I will." He clicked off, and went back to his girlfriend, who was staring out the window watching the car with two federal agents sitting on his street.

He went to put an arm around her again, and instead of leaning into it, or even resisting it, either of which he would have been prepared for, she flipped around facing him, and began kissing him. Ordinarily he wouldn't have minded this, but the kiss was followed by her attempt to tear off his clothes. Again, this wouldn't have bothered him under other circumstances, but at this moment, it only made it clear that Emily was becoming unhinged.

Emily tried to pull his t-shirt off, while still kissing him, ignoring the hands that tried to slow her frantic movements. She needed to feel him, needed to be with him, needed the security of his touch, of their normalcy together. When she made love to Matt, the whole world disappeared, it was just them, and the way he looked at her, the way he touched her, she knew he loved her. She didn't have to wonder, to think, she could empty her mind, just lay naked with him.

He wasn't going to have this though, not like this, not when she was clearly freaked out. He finally saw an opportunity to still her hands and took it, grabbing them, and holding them, even as she fault to pull them back. When he tried to whisper, 'shhhh' she looked at him with fear in her eyes, and began to get more hysterical and more forceful in her attempts to yank her hands back. He let them go as soon as he saw the fear in her eyes, and barely managed to catch her around the waist as she flew back.

She was frustrated with him before, especially after he grabbed her hands. What man doesn't want sex anytime, anywhere, any day? When he whispered that to her, she didn't hear him, but instead she heard the voice on the other end of the phone line. She replayed every conversation in her head, reread that card, felt the chills all over again. She needed to get away, but Matt wouldn't let her. When he finally did, she went stumbling backward, until he caught her around the middle, and risked pulling her close. Her arms flew around his neck, and she buried her head in his shoulder, tears finally coming. He held her tightly, and eased them back to bed, shutting off the light, and holding her pressed as tightly to his body as possible. He could feel her relax slowly, and placed kisses on her forehead and nose.

* * *

"Did he actually speak French there?" Duff wondered looking disgusted.

"That sounds like French," Cheryl agreed.

"It means 'my lover" Lia announced, worry lining her face. "Shhh, my lover. Shhhh."

"You speak French?" Frank asked impressed.

"And Spanish and Italian. I was good at them in school," she shrugged.

"Thanks for the translation Lia, disturbing as it was." Cheryl continued to look concerned.

"Isn't there anything we can do besides just protect her?" Matt asked exasperated.

"We can't find him Matt. But, I'm open to suggestions."

"I don't know…I just…he's trying to screw with her head and it's starting to work Cheryl."

"What do you mean?"

"First she sees him everywhere, then he sends her that thing, then he calls every night. She can't sleep after those calls, and is tired all the time now. He's trying to break her down, and I'm worried it's working."

"Easy Matt. Okay, tell her to keep her phone off tonight, and turn off yours, and unplug your landline. I'll give you a throwaway cell, if you need to call us or we need to call you, you can use that. You and Emily will get to sleep without being interrupted by Stan's crazy ramblings."

The woman in question was currently seeking some solitude in the only space they'd allow her to be alone- the bathroom. She knew they'd be discussing the case and her, and figured she'd give them the chance to get it out now, so she didn't have to hear it. She was tired, and she was losing her patience with all the attention and hindrance to her independence. Emily desperately wanted Stan to make another appearance so they could arrest him and be done with it. She was about to finally exit the bathroom when she realized she left her papers in the car, papers she'd need for class this afternoon.

Shrugging off the knowledge that she was doing something they'd all yell at her later for, Emily stole out of the bathroom, grabbed the keys from Matt's desk, noting that none of the people in Cheryl's office noticed her, and headed for the elevators. Her detail was camped out in the basement until called up, they'd actually given her a panic button. Ridiculous maybe, but of it kept them from worrying, she'd take it with a smile.

The ride was short and she was soon in the basement, picking her way among the dozens of cars until she found the much less sporty replacement Matt got for his Mustang. He missed his car, and would have loved another one, but decided in their line of work, it was better to get something he wouldn't mind seeing blown-up. This blue Nissan wasn't particularly attractive, expensive, or interesting, so if it blew up, he'd be the first lined up with a bag of marshmallows and a stick.

She was about to head back with the stack of papers, when a familiar face caught her attention. Stan was standing less than three feet in front of her, smiling that creepy smile of his. His bright blue eyes appeared to being glowing eerily in the dark light of the garage.

* * *

_Thanks for all the reviews and reading everybody! I'm going to try and get this up as fast as possible so I can get back to the other two. Hope you enjoyed this part!_


	4. Chapter 4

"Stay where you are Stan," Emily warned, backing away from him. Her heart had begun to race as soon as she saw him, and when she bumped into a car, it jumped speed even faster. All she heard was his sickeningly, smooth voice, speaking the words from the three previous nights. She knew it was irrational, but she would have sworn she could feel his presence wind around her being, and it made her want to vomit.

"Relax Emily, I won't hurt you," he seemed surprised by her obvious unease.

Emily pressed the panic button in once, twice, three quick times before allowing it to rest where it was in her jacket pocket and going for her gun. "You move, I pull the trigger."

"Whoa, jesus, look I don't know who screwed with you as a kid, but this is not the way to let a guy know you aren't interested." He actually had the nerve to look at her as if she were crazy.

"Really, I thought I made that pretty clear already, but you can't take a hint. Don't you move!" She hollered at him, as he shifted. All she heard was that voice, those words, and she wanted to pull that trigger.

"Christ, I won't move, just don't shoot! You really are insane!" He yelled back at her.

Emily stood shaking and watching him, her sweaty hands making it hard to grip the gun, and her trigger finger twitching nervously. He stared at her, hands in the air, anger in his eyes, not moving an inch. They began a staring contest then, every little twitch he made, natural or no, Emily's finger jumped ever so slightly closer to the trigger, moving from it's spot alongside her gun barrel.

"Come on, I just wanted to ask you out," he spoke to her in an almost soothing voice, trying to coax her to release her weapon.

"No."

"No what?" He asked exasperated.

"No, I'm not going out with you." She hadn't so much as blinked since she drew her weapon, and kept her angry gaze on him now.

"Yeah, I kind of figured a much. Listen, since we have that all cleared up, how about you let me go?" He asked, moving closer to her.

"Don't you move damn it!" Her finger finished it's migration to the trigger, while her thumb turned off the safety.

He backed up hands in the air, eyes almost wild with fear.

The cavalry chose that moment to finally arrive, half of HRT swarming in, very large weapons drawn on Stan. Emily's current protectors came up behind her, as two other HRT agent placed cuffs on Stan.

"Are you okay?" Agent Finnegan asked, taking in her defensive stance, position of her finger, and unsafteyed gun.

"Did he hurt you?" Agent Stalwart wondered, concern in his eyes.

"I didn't lay a hand on her!" Stan shouted angrily.

"Shut up dickwad! Henderson, Baily, Gains, Seeder, get him up to the CNU, the boss is going to want to see him." Finnegan shouted to them.

"Right, let's go, and you try to move, we'll enjoy filling you with bullets." This ass harassed one of their own, they wouldn't be taking it lightly. The four agents marched him to the elevator, getting in and ascending to the CNU.

The rest of the agents stayed behind, studying Emily who had yet to lower her gun. One put an arm gently on her shoulder, his fingertips barely touching at first and then easing down as he tested her comfort. Slowly he helped her ease her arm down, until she snapped out of whatever horrified daze she'd lapsed into. Her heart was still pounding, and she suddenly noticed her breathing was somewhat labored.

* * *

"Hey, hold up, what's this?" Duff asked looking out the window in Cheryl's office, watching four of his comrades walk a cuffed man into the CNU. His companions abruptly stopped their conversation, and gathered at the window, before walking out of the office.

"Boss, meet the infamous Stan. Found him in the basement, Agent Lehman hit her panic button." Agent Henderson announced.

"Good work guys," Frank praised him, as they all looked around for Emily.

"So where the hell is Emily?" Matt asked in a near panic. Was she hurt? Did he try to attack her?

"On her way up with her bodyguards. She's a little shaken, but otherwise fine."

"What was she doing down there alone?" Cheryl asked.

The HRT agents shrugged, they had thought she was in the CNU, until they got the panic button signal, and traced it.

"Did he touch her?" Matt asked, fury burning in his eyes, body tense, ready to pound Stan at the slightest provocation.

"Don't think so, she had her gun on him when we got there. Looked pretty freaked, but I don't think he got close enough to do anything."

"I didn't lay a hand on her! Crazy bitch pulled a friggin gun on me!" Stan yelled, defending himself and reminding them all of his presence.

"Hey!" Frank grabbed Stan and leaned close to his face, "watch what you say about her. There's a lot of guys here that'd love to tear your heart out."

Stan swallowed and became quiet, deciding it would be better not to tangle with HRT, and the very irate negotiator nearby.

Much like the four HRT agents had marched in with their catch, two more marched in, flanking Emily, who still looked shaken. She also looked like she was barely keeping herself from jumping out of her skin, almost claustrophobic between her two guards.

Matt practically ran up to her, resisting the urge to wrap his arms around her after catching this expression that clearly suggested she was suffocating.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine." Her body, her tone, her jaw, everything about her was tense.

"What were you doing in that garage alone?" Cheryl demanded.

"I forgot some papers I need for class, I went to get them."

"How about explaining the alone part?" Cheryl was clearly not happy with Emily.

"I had the panic button, and we caught him, everything is fine." She clearly wasn't in the mood to argue.

"It might not have been. What if he attacked you? What if he tried to kill you?"

"Whoa, ladies you better not be talking about me. I don't kill people, I just wanted to ask her out." Stan's stressed voice was beginning to sound panicked.

"Shut up." Cheryl told him before turning back to Emily.

"So?"

Emily stood silently, holding her ground, and blatantly defying Cheryl for the first time.

The SAC ran a hand through her hair, not sure how to handle the situation. Should she reprimand her for risking her own life, or continue to let her act borderline suicidal? She cupped her hands over her mouth in thought, before bringing them down and jumping back into her commander role.

"Frank, Binder, take this trash to Interrogation 3, Temple and Duff contact crime scene and coordinate with them in the garage." She turned to the four HRT agents, "I need two of you to stand outside the room while they question him, and two to go downstairs and find me an empty holding cell. Matt and Emily, my office. Thank you everyone."

She turned her heel and headed for her office, Matt and Emily behind her. Emily's HRT guards parked themselves at a cubicle, prepared to find a way to amuse themselves.

Once inside her office, Cheryl allowed her negotiators in before closing the door, lowering the blinds and resting against her desk, trying to think how best to address Emily without yelling.

"Okay, I don't know any other way to word this right now so, what the hell were you thinking?" She was very, very pissed.

"That I'd get my papers without all the hoopla." Sarcasm dripped from Emily's voice as she answered.

"Don't get sarcastic with me. You haven't forgotten that two HRT agents have been guarding you around the clock have you?" She tried to keep her voice calm and even.

"How could I?"

"Then maybe you've simply forgotten why they're there?"

"The phone calls in the middle of the night kind of prevent that."

"So then you're just suicidal?"

"What?" Now Emily was surprised. Did Cheryl really think that?

"I can't figure out why else you would go down to a dark, deserted parking lot alone, while there is a man stalking you. While he's become such a problem I have HRT following you around." Cheryl stood, arms crossed over her chest, silently waiting for a better explanation.

"I…I'm not suicidal." Emily looked at the floor, completely dropping her sarcastic attitude.

"Then what is going on with you?" Cheryl asked desperately.

"I can't live like this Cheryl. I can't keep jumping whenever my phone rings, and feeling my heart race every time I think I see him. I can't keep hearing him talk over and over again in my head, or I really will lose it!" She had started her diatribe quiet, but sounded almost hysterical by the end.

"Okay, calm down a minute. It's over, we got him, remember that. But Emily, I'm going to tell you this hoping I never have to put HRT on you again, but if I do, that means you're in danger. I don't care how close you feel you are to losing it, you DO NOT go ANYWHERE by yourself. Talk to someone if you need to, Matt, Lia, me, one of the Bureau's shrinks, I don't care. Just take care of yourself, alright?"

Emily just nodded, feeling slightly guilty now.

"Good then. I suppose I won't need to give you a throwaway cell tonight. Go home, you've been through a lot the last several days. And, you can leave without your detail, I know that's going to make you very happy."

"Thanks." Emily offered her a small smile, the first real one in days.

When Matt and Emily arrived home, twenty-minutes later, they both shed some of their clothes and fell into bed, curling together and passing out. They were too exhausted for anything else. Unfortunately, they only got to enjoy their slumber for a few hours, before Matt's cell began ringing at 3:30.

He woke up blinking in the bright light that served as a reminder that they came home early and passed out around noon. Adjusting himself enough so that he could reach his phone on the night stand, but not too much, so as not to wake Emily, he grabbed the device, reading the caller id.

"Flannery." He was relieved to see Cheryl's name flashing.

"Hey Matt, how's Emily?" He could almost picture his boss's brows furrowed in concentration and worry.

"Sleeping now. I think she's still a little shaken, but relieved."

"Good, that's good to hear." She paused in thought. "Matt I hate to do this, but I need you."

"Whoa, what? Can't Temple and Binder handle it? I don't think Emily's in any shape to think about a case right now." He couldn't believe Cheryl was even considering it.

"Uh no, you misunderstood. I don't have a case for you two. Karl the Ice Cream Man is back, but this time he's taken his business to Phoenix. I need you to help them get a five year-old boy back."

"How the hell did he get out of prison?" Matt was getting a bit loud, and could feel Emily begin to stir beside him. He reached his free hand up, and brushed some hair from her face, stroking the long locks, soothing her back into sleep.

"He was in psych. They evidently thought he'd gotten better."

"Idiots…uh, I don't really want to leave her right now Cheryl."

"I know, and I hate to ask you, but there's a scared little boy in Phoenix that's need you."

"I know, I know…alright, is Lia still in the office?" He rubbed a hand over his face, before letting it drift back to Emily.

"It's not even four Matt, what do you think?"

"Fine, book me a flight and transfer me to her." He wasn't happy about this, but knew that frightened little boy was in more peril than Emily at the moment.

"Thanks Matt. I'll let Phoenix know you're on your way." She told him before hitting the transfer button and typing in Lia's extension.

"Mathers."

"Hey Lia, it's Matt. Did you have plans tonight?" He eased himself out of the bed, holding the phone with his neck so that he could maneuver Emily to the bed without waking her. Closing the door most of the way, he headed to his kitchen, grabbing a glass and filling it with water.

"Uh, no not really. Why?" Lia was confused. Coming from any other guy, she would have considered that fishing for a date.

"Good. I have to go to Phoenix tonight to assist in a kidnapping with a guy Cheryl and I had a run in with a few years ago. I don't want Emily to be alone tonight."

"She doesn't know about this does she?"

"Not yet."

"That's what I figured. You know that if she knew you were trying to find her a babysitter, she'd kill you, right?" Lia smiled even as she asked him; Matt could play tough as much as he liked, but when it came to Emily, he was like a mother bear.

"I'll take my chances. I'm worried about her. She's just been through a lot, she doesn't need to be alone right now."

"I know. I'll come over. When does your flight leave?"

"I don't know yet. Can you transfer me back to Cheryl?"

"Sure." Lia hit a few buttons.

"Carrera."

"Hey, do you have my flight booked yet?"

"Waste no time, do you?"

"The sooner I get there and take care of the Ice Cream Man, the sooner I get back here."

"Can't argue with that. You're on Southwest, flight 1273, departing from gate 12. It leaves in an hour and a half, plenty of time to pack a bag and get to LAX."

"Great. Can you transfer me back to Lia?" Matt was already starting to feel dizzy from all the transferring.

"No problem, have a safe flight."

"Mathers."

"My flights at 5:30."

"I'll be there at five then."

"Thanks Lia."

"Anytime, hey how is she doing?"

"She's sleeping, but seems to be fine. No nightmares at least."

"That's good…Alright, I'll see you in an hour then."

"Yep." He hung up and blew into his hands, allowing his mind a moment to wind down from musical conversations, before heading back into the bedroom.

He down beside Emily, and placed his lips delicately on hers, offering small kisses until he saw her eyes blinking and felt her begin to respond. After coming awake she captured his mouth in one long kiss, before letting him go, and looking up at him.

"Much as I enjoyed that, you can't possibly tell me that it's morning already."

"It's only four in the afternoon."

"Oh…then what's going on?" She now looked obviously confused.

"I have to go to Phoenix tonight. You remember I told you about Karl the Ice Cream man?"

"Yeah, five years ago, lures kids with the truck and holds them for small ransoms?"

"The same. He set up shop in Arizona, snatched a five year-old boy." He watched her unfocused as he spoke, playing with her red curls.

"Then you have to go." She desperately wanted to be with him tonight, but a scared kid in mortal danger took precedence.

"Lia's going to come over."

She looked up at him suddenly, half annoyed, half amused, "did you actually get me a babysitter?"

He rolled his eyes, "not a babysitter, just some company."

"She's a babysitter, admit it."

"Honestly, it's more for me than you. This way I won't call you every hour, and spend the entire time worrying."

"Do I really need to say it?"

"Yes, I know, you can take care of yourself. Humor me. Have a girl's night, do each other's nails…" He wasn't sure what a girl's night entailed.

"Oh right, and we can talk about my crush Jimmy Sanders, who sits two desks over from me in science class. I think he likes me, he picked up my pencil for me yesterday," she told him sarcastically, mimicking a fourteen year-old girl.

"Fine, no nail painting, but I'm sure you two can find something to keep you occupied. Besides," he leaned close and whispered, "I _know_ for a fact that women still talk about guys." He leaned down and captured her lips.

"Oh yeah, but I already have mine. He sits right next to me and steals my pens." She pulled him down on the bed, kissing him and allowed her hands to roam his body.

"I do not," he insisted in mock indignation, before his mouth found hers again.

"Oh yeah?" She flipped them over so she was on top. "Then where have they all gone?"

"Jimmy Sanders keeps picking them up," he offered, flipping them back over and initiating another kiss.

Emily moaned into his mouth, before abruptly cutting off the kiss, and distancing herself slightly. "When do you have to leave?"

"My flight leaves at 5:30. Why?"

"That means you need to leave no later than five and it's a quarter after four now."

"Yeah, so?"

"Don't start something you can't finish," she gave him one last kiss, so he would know she wasn't mad, just being practical.

"Damn," he mumbled as he picked himself up off the bed, and began to hunt around for his suitcase.

Forty-five minutes later Matt was on his way out the door and Lia watched her friends try to break off the kiss in order to get him out said door. Once he was out, Emily closed and locked the door with a bittersweet grin on her face. They had caught Stan, the harassing phone calls were over, and she was completely head over feet in love. She turned her attention to Lia, who looked amused.

"So, is Matt paying you for this babysitting gig?" Emily couldn't help herself.

"My only payment is getting to hang out with a friend whose time has recently been monopolized by a certain man." Lia grinned; she wasn't offended.

"You know he actually suggested we paint each other's nails?"

Lia laughed, "so, what would you like, bubblegum pink with little hearts, or cotton candy pink with little stars?"

"How about we alternate them?" Emily suggested playing along, enjoying the feeling of normalcy.

* * *

**The Next Day**

Emily didn't receive a creepy phone call that night, as she had the previous ones, allowing her to actually sleep. Or at least she would have, had she not spent half the night talking to Lia, eating ice cream, and ignoring bad Lifetime movies. Matt had only called once to check up on them, at which point Emily whined that the babysitter was making out with her boyfriend on the couch. To which Matt's only reply was to role his eyes on the other end, and promise to be home soon.

Work progressed as normal, Temple and Binder handled the only call, Emily was on paperwork until Cheryl was convinced that she was over the stalker incident. At the end of the day, Emily promised Lia she'd been fine, and thanked her for staying the previous night, sending her off with Duff. She gathered her papers, and was struck with the thought that this would be her first night alone in weeks. Whether her apartment or his house, she was always with Matt, but tonight she was not only going to be alone, but in his house alone.

She could go to her apartment, but was still a little weary, even if Stan was caught. Besides, she had a key and half her wardrobe was already at his house anyway, so it hardly mattered. She pulled into the driveway, and was unlocking the door and juggling her bag when saw the package on the stoop. She bent down to scoop it up, surprised to see her own name on it, and pushed in the door. She tossed her bag down and closed the door, locking it, before getting a better look at the package. It was from Macy's. That was odd, she didn't order anything from Macy's, and certainly wouldn't have had it delivered to Matt's house.

She cut the box open to reveal a small card and a red clothing box. "Em, found this last night and had them send it to you from a local store. Looking forward to seeing it."

It wasn't in his handwriting, but she figured a clerk at the local store wrote it for him. She opened the clothing box to find a dress, a gown more like, well really an evening gown. It wasn't really like Matt to get her something like this, but she shrugged. She knew he was feeling guilty for leaving when she needed him, and it would be like Matt to surprise her with something to try and make up for it, even just a little. She grabbed the dress and took it into the bedroom to try it on.

Emily stared at the gown in a floor length mirror, still wondering what possessed Matt to go for a dress. Maybe one of the negotiators over there was a woman? The dress was yellow silk, and form fitting, not necessarily something Emily would have chosen for herself, but not the ugliest dress she'd ever seen either. Was this his subtle way of telling her, he wanted to take her to dinner when he got back?

She was still pondering the dress when her phone went off. The ringer made her jump, actually it had been making her jump for days, ever since Stan started calling. And picking the device up to answer it still sent a chill down her spine. She had to grab the dress and pull it away from her feet, before she began small steps into the living room to grab her phone. Small steps were the only way she could do it, because the dress was really that tight. She almost tripped as she struggled with the dress and began to sweat, before managing to glance at the caller id. Matt.

"Hey," she greeted, relief flooding through her.

"Hey there, how was work?" She could hear the smile in his voice.

"The usual, lots of paperwork, gossiping with Lia at lunch, watched Frank and Duff annoy Cheryl with their dumb and dumber routine. How's your case going?"

"It went well." He paused, letting the meaning sink in

"Went, as in done?" She asked excitedly.

"Yep, ice cream man was caught, little boy is with his parents, done."

"So the boy is okay?" She went to scratch at her arm, and was surprised when it hurt. She was starting to get itchy, maybe she was allergic to some cleaning solution in the fabric.

"Scared shitless, probably never going near another ice cream truck, but unharmed."

"That's great Matt. And Phoenix is also done with you now?"

"Yes, in fact I'm driving now, should be home in five minutes."

"What? Really?"

"Yep, and I can't wait."

"Me neither. Oh! By the way, I got the dress you sent." She said, feeling the itch spread to the rest of her body, an itch that wasn't feeling so much like an itch anymore.

"Dress? I didn't send you a dress."

"What? I have it right here, I'm wearing it." She went to go for the card and nearly dropped the phone as the fabric rubbed against her body and seemed to set off some chain reaction. It was starting to hurt, no more starting to burn.

"I didn't send you a dress Em. I know nothing about women's fashion, that is probably the last thing I would choose to buy you."

"Well, somebody sent me a dress, and…oh my god." Oh yes, it felt like her skin was burning. "Matt, oh god, it, it, something's wrong, oh god it hurts!"

"What? What hurts? What's wrong?" He could hear the panic in her voice and was trying to keep himself from doing the same.

"The dress! The dress! It's burning me!" She tried to find the zipper on back of the dress, but moving just made the fabric rub against her, and made the pain worse.

To be continued…

* * *

_Yes, I'm having fun with the cliffhangers on this one, but seeing as how it isn't exactly an original idea, I need to do something to make it distinctive. Anyway, still trying to crank this out quick, especially since it seems to be so popular. Thank you all soooo much for the reviews, I really appreciate them. Thanks for reading!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Previously:_

"_I didn't send you a dress Em. I know nothing about women's fashion, that is probably the last thing I would choose to buy you."_

"_Well, somebody sent me a dress, and…oh my god." Oh yes, it felt like her skin was burning. "Matt, oh god, it, it, something's wrong, oh god it hurts!"_

"_What? What hurts? What's wrong?" He could hear the panic in her voice and was trying to keep himself from doing the same._

"_The dress! The dress! It's burning me!" She tried to find the zipper on back of the dress, but moving just made the fabric rub against her, and made the pain worse. _

"Ok, just stay calm a minute, I'll be home soon." He tried to soothe her over the line, but it was obvious it wasn't working.

"I can't get it off, Matt! Oh god, I can't get it off and it hurts so much!" She wailed into the line, struggling to grab the zipper, but failing miserably.

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm pulling in now."

"Oh god hurry…I have to get it off!" She danced around, tears pricking at her eyes, as the cursed fabric somehow burned her flesh.

Matt burst in the door, rushing over to her, and taking in the anguish and panic on her face only a moment, before going to work on the dress. He tried the zipper, but it was stuck, it wouldn't budge, wouldn't go down.

"Matt! Help, get it off! Oh please, please get it off! You have to get it off!" She was becoming hysterical, trying to rip the dress off with her bare hands.

Matt lunged at a nearby drawer and grabbed a pair of scissors from it, attacking the dress with them. He cut down right beside where the zipper was, not stopping until he hit the bottom. Then, as the tears began cascading down Emily's face, he helped her rip it off, before dragging her to the bathroom, and running cool water. Twisting it to shower, he helped her in, got in beside her, holding her up. Her skin had become a bright crimson, and her whole body was shaking, tears of agony still streaming down her face.

After fifteen minutes, he turned off the water and stepped out, easing Emily out, wrapping a towel around her as she winced at the touch. He guided them both to the bedroom, and sat her on the bed, picking up the phone to dial 911. He gave them a description of her burns, and directions to her house before hanging up, before kneeling down in front of her.

"It's going to be okay. We're going to get you to a hospital, and they'll get you some really excellent pain killers, the kind that make you float," he told her, trying to make her smile.

"Matt, Stan was arrested. Who did this?" That was her biggest fear- that it wasn't over. That it might never be over.

"I don't know, but we'll find out, I promise. Okay?" He eased himself onto the bed beside her, allowing her to rest her head on the soaked clothes covering his chest. She didn't seem to mind. He dialed another number, explained the situation to Cheryl, and hung up again.

Pounding at their door minutes later, signified the presence of the medics. Emily removed her head from his chest, and stood on shaking legs, every cell in her body jumping after the ordeal. They walked out to the living room, and Matt let the medics in. Emily was still wrapped in a towel, her eyes still red-rimmed, her heart still beating rapidly.

After giving her a cursory exam, the medics took Emily out on a stretcher, Matt following close behind. He hopped in the ambulance after they got Emily settled, and held her hand as they went to the hospital.

Two hours later, Matt nodded at the doctor, barely registering his words past his statement that Emily would be alright, and walked into a small private room. Cheryl evidently used her Bureau position to pull some strings and get Emily her own room for the night. At the moment Cheryl was tearing his house apart on the search for evidence with Frank, half of HRT, and of course, crime scene. Lia, who had been out with Duff when he got the call from Frank, was on her way to the hospital, worried about her friend.

Emily was resting in the bed, her skin still bright red and painful, though the morphine was beginning to work. She was exhausted, scared, and not ready to deal with the thought that somebody was still out there that wanted to hurt her. She was staring out the window when Matt came in, not really looking at the street lamps and parking lot, but lost in thought.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked, sitting in the chair beside her.

"Hurts, but the morphine is starting to work. Doctor said he wants to keep me for the night, but I'll be free to go in the morning." She tried to give him her best smile, but it was obvious to anyone that it was fake.

"Cheryl's on the warpath, has half the Bureau tearing through my house, looking for evidence. We'll get him, don't worry." He told her, picking up her hand, and stroking the back with his thumb.

"I want to crawl under a rock." She stated, really telling him for the first time what this was doing to her.

"You can't do that, I'd miss you too much." He smiled at her, trying to ease her slightly.

"Crawl under the rock with me then."

"I would in a heartbeat, if only it were that easy." He leaned in and kissed her, resting his forehead against hers for a moment.

"Hey..." Both turned to the door to see Lia and Cheryl looking somewhat awkward at interrupting the scene before them.

"Hi, you find anything at my house?" Matt automatically asked.

"We took the boxes, card and dress to the lab, but crime scene is still looking. You're going to be okay?" She asked Emily.

"Yeah, morphine is great." She smiled, fake though it was, trying to reassure them.

"They're keeping you overnight?"

"Yeah, just to make sure there's no secondary effects from whatever chemical he put on the dress."

"Good, umm, there's something you should know. We don't think Stan was responsible for the chocolates, the phone calls or this." The interrogation of Stan had not a promising one.

"I figured he wasn't responsible for this, why don't you think the rest?" She seemed unfazed by the news.

"His story checks out. He's sleaze, but harmless sleaze."

"What's his story?"

"Uh, he and four other guys work a couple blocks from Sierra. They all noticed you come in now and again, and found you very attractive. They made a bet to see who could get you into bed first, Stan was the frontrunner." Cheryl was visibly disgusted relaying the tale.

"That's it?" That seemed so benign for the stress it caused.

"Yeah, that was all it was for him." They grew silent as the couple considered this, and Matt moved over to Cheryl, beginning to walk her out of the room to talk.

Lia walked up beside the bed, about to hug her friend when she realized it would probably be painful for her, and settled for placing a kiss to her head. "I'm sorry this isn't over." It was all Lia could think to say.

"Thanks, me too."

"I think Cheryl's going to stow you away in protective custody after you get out."

"I'm not going to argue, I'm too tired."

"We'll get him Emily, it will be over soon." She tried her best to offer comforting words.

"We don't even know who he is, how can we find him?"

Lia didn't get the opportunity to answer, the phone beside her bed rang. Emily reached over and grabbed it.

"Lehman," she automatically answered.

"Hey Emily, I hope it wasn't too bad for you." The smooth voice sent chills racing own her spine.

"What do you want?" She demanded.

"I had to show you how badly you hurt me."

"I'm glad I hurt you." She bit at him.

"You won't be soon."

"What, are you going to try to give me another laced dress?"

"No, it will be much worse Emily," he paused and then whispered venomously, "I'll destroy you."

"You want me? Than stop being such a coward and come and get me!" She hollered into the phone.

"Soon."

"No, not soon! Come after me damn it! If that's what you want stop talking, and just do it already!" She yelled again, Matt and Cheryl already bounding back into the room, hearing her first yell. They looked at Lia for an explanation, but she just looked frightened.

"Goodbye Emily." There was a click and Emily slammed the phone down on it's perch.

"Was that him?" Matt demanded.

"Of course, the bastard's not done yet."

"What did he say?" Cheryl asked, immediately concerned.

"That he's going to destroy me."

"Ok...well, that settles that then, I'm going to call Frank and have him send some guys here to watch your room."

"Get some for Matt too."

"You think he'll go after Matt?"

"I don't know, but it would be a good start to destroying me. I'd rather be safe than sorry."

"I agree."

"What if I just camp out here tonight, save you the extra agents?" Matt suggested, knowing he nurses would probably object.

"I don't think the hospital allows that Matt," Emily commented, though she would've liked to have him around.

"Unless I grease the wheels," Cheryl said, with a conspiratorial expression on her face. "Give me a minute."

They watched her walk out, wondering what she was up to.

"This guy, he's going to try to kill you, isn't he?" Lia asked, her voice wavering in fear.

"Not before he destroys me, Lia. We've got some time to catch him." Emily was trying to reassure herself and Matt, as much as Lia.

"Anyway, he won't succeed in either," Matt promised. He didn't plan on leaving her side until this stalker was caught, even if he had to beg, plead with, and threaten the nurses.

"Ok, it's all settled. Matt's camping out here tonight, and Frank just sent two of his best to guard outside the door." Cheryl came back in only moments later, pleased with her news.

"You got the nurses to agree to let me stay?"

"You are one of her official guards for tonight, as far as their concerned."

"They bought that?" Emily asked amused.

"The shiny, official-looking badge helped a bit."

**

* * *

**The next day Matt and Emily were heading over to the CNU, chauffeured by their HRT guards. The doctors had officially released her minutes ago, with painkillers, burn cream, and care instructions. The burns were only bad first degree, and the chemical seemed to cause no other ill effects, so they allowed her to go home. Or in this case, the CNU, where Cheryl was to assign them new guards and ship them off to one of the Bureau's safe houses. Emily was still exhausted, as she spent the night waking up in pain every time she shifted. Matt was tired too, often waking up with her, his body in protective mode, and alert to every movement in the room. 

"Hey there," Frank greeted them, as they exited the elevator into the CNU.

"You find anything last night?" Matt wondered.

"Lab says the dress had some acidic chemical powder on it that reacted to Emily sweating, but their still trying to track the specific chemical. Boxes, card and dress were all free of fingerprints, hair, fibers, anything to help us, so no, we didn't really find anything. How're you holding up?" He addressed Emily, wondering how long the negotiator could deal with this before she crashed.

"I'm fine, thanks Frank."

"Anytime, remember don't let him see you sweat."

"Yeah, this time I agree with you."

"Matt, Emily," Cheryl greeted, "these are Agents Calway and Higgins, they are two of the agents that operate the Bureau's safe houses, and they'll be in charge of yours."

The group were still exchanging handshakes and pleasantries when the entire CNU seemed to shout a universal, 'whoa.' They looked around to see agents backing away from their computers and looking around nervously. Frank got a look at a screen first.

"Man why are you watching that?" He demanded of the agent sitting nearby, the grainy black and white sex tape from a month ago playing on his screen.

"I didn't do that, the screen suddenly changed!" Agents began nodding all around the room, standing up, completely bewildered. Cheryl tore off to the IA room to see if Lia could figure out what happened, and her companions followed, close on her heels.

"Lia, what the hell is going on?"

"Uh, I don't know, somebody hacked the system and set off a virus or something, this is playing on every screen," she explained helplessly, the same black and white vision on every screen in the room.

"Can you get it off?" Emily asked desperately.

"No, I've been trying, it's locked or something."

"Is this just in the CNU, or the whole Bureau?" Cheryl asked, still calm, pretending to be all business, though these attacks on her friends were beginning to make her feel slightly unhinged.

"I couldn't tell you, I can't do anything with the computer." Even as she spoke phones began to go off around the CNU, Cheryl, Matt's and Emily's extensions, their cellphones, Lia's and Frank's.

"Carrera." She answered, watching her agents do the same, all quietly speaking into their phones.

"No, sir I wasn't aware it was outside the CNU also." They turned to her, something less than surprise on their faces.

"We're trying to figure it out."

"They're here." One by one, they began to hang up, and question each other on their conversations.

"No! Of course they didn't do this." Cheryl hissed into the line, gaining her agent's attention again.

"Yes sir, I'll let you know as soon as we know anything." Cheryl hung up, relieved that the conversation was over, and turned to see several expectant faces.

"Yes, the entire Bureau has this problem, yes, they thought it might be you two playing a trick, yes, now they know it's not, and no, they can't figure it out either." She rattled off, before they could even ask.

"We all got calls from friends in other departments, it's everywhere," Matt commented dejectedly.

"Great, Lia-"

"Oh no…" The Intelligence Analyst was focused on the large screens, as were most in the room, causing Cheryl, Matt, Emily, and Frank to join them.

"Oh my god," Emily breathed, turning pale. There on the screen was a scene similar to the first, but it wasn't grainy and it wasn't black and white. Matt and Emily were on the screen having sex in full color- with sound.

"Oh god Lia, you have to get that off," Matt begged.

"I can't, he's got control of our system." Lia felt awful, her computer wizardry useless when her friends needed it most.

"Matt?" Emily's voice shot from every speaker in the room, as taped Emily raised herself slightly off Matt, and looked into his eyes.

"Oh no, no, no," Emily breathed, remembering what came next. Matt moved closer to her, and took her hand, they'd get through this together.

Taped Matt's response to his name was to brush hair from her face as they both tried to catch their breath.

The entire room was entranced by the image, a few chancing glances at Matt and Emily.

Taped Emily spoke again, "I meant it…I love you."

"I know, I love you too," taped Matt answered, hand resting on her face, looking as deeply into her eyes as she was his. He captured her lips again, as their hands resumed roaming, and just he was beginning to thrust into her, the image finally changed.

Matt and Emily were stunned and horrified. That moment was a private, very intimate one between them, that no one had any right to see.

They didn't have time to think about it anymore as the screen began showing a slide show of still images, Emily prominent in all of them, Matt in many. To everyone's surprise, Cheryl, Frank and Duff showed up in a few that were taken at negotiations. Lia even made a few appearances in photos of outings with Emily.

"It's the same night," Emily suddenly blurted, turning to Matt and Cheryl.

"Yeah, I caught that too." Matt ran a hand through his hair.

"Same night as what?"

"The same night that Tobin Jensen taped us. The night before Oliver Marsh was kidnapped last month," Emily explained, ignoring the PG slideshow in the background.

"This was a lot better than Jensen's, he had to have cameras set up in the house," Frank brought this disturbing truth to their attention.

"Great, just what we need." Matt was pissed, really pissed.

They all turned their heads at the sound of water spraying in the background.

"Shit," Matt cursed, predicting what the image would be before he turned.

Yes, there was Emily in her shower, shampooing her hair, rinsing it out, applying conditioner, etc.

She stared at the image in stunned silence, feeling sicker with every minute that passed. This was evident to those surrounding her, as they took in the increasing pallor of her face.

It didn't stay on the shower long, before switching back to another slide show of stills. These were of Emily's apartment, obviously taken with a long lens, some obstructed slightly by swaying curtains or plants in the windows, showing her doing whatever, Matt popping up now and again. Others flashed by taken from Matt's house, usually of the couple together, making dinner, watching out a window wrapped around each other, relaxing, whatever.

"There's no way to get this off Lia?" Emily pled with her friend, desperate to end this view into her life. There is only so much a person could take before snapping, and Emily was reaching her braking point.

"I'm so sorry Emily, I can't do anything. The Bureau has to shut off its system." Lia went from feeling helpless to feeling guilty, as her impressive computer skills failed her when she needed them most.

The next image to flash was of Emily in her apartment, sitting on her couch, staring blankly at the small white stick in her hand, a box laying off to the side. Another photo, a closer shot of Emily holding the box, the words on the front now clearly legible: EPT, 99 accurate pregnancy test. A third flashed, Emily still staring at the test, appearing stressed. The entire room turned to look at her, including Matt, who was the most stunned of all.

This was too much for Emily, and hand flying to her mouth, stomach churning, she bolted for the ladies room. Matt went to go after her, but Cheryl stopped him.

"Ladies room," she reminded him, "I'll go check on her." Matt nodded, he needed a minute to digest what he just saw anyway.

"Oh my god," Lia suddenly blurted. They turned to look at the screen, not willing to even imagine what else might have been captured on tape or film.

It was another sex tape, but in Emily's apartment, and the quality not as good; there was no sound. More importantly, the man Emily was having sex with was very blond.

"Holy Hell, _that _is not Matt," Frank exclaimed, stating the obvious.

* * *

_So, this is a different sort of cliffhanger, no one is in mortal danger, and it should be the last. I'm aiming for only one more chapter so I can get back to my other two stories. Anyway, thank you all for reading, and reviewing, you're great!_


	6. Chapter 6

No, that blond certainly was not Matt, and it left everyone wondering about Emily Lehman. Did she really cheat on Matt? Matt was actually the only person in the room not wondering that. Mostly because he trusted her and trusted what they had, but also because that pregnancy test was what was really on his mind. How long ago did she take that, and was that part of the reason his girlfriend was vomiting in the ladies room at that moment? That reminded him, he turned to Cheryl who was still standing beside him, not sure what to make of the scene playing out on the screen.

"I'm going to check on her," she told him, prying her eyes off the screen, and shaking her head in bewilderment. She dove out of the IA room, and made for the bathroom, winding the hallway, and pushing the door open to see Emily washing up at the sink.

"Hey, you alright?"

"No, not really." Emily dabbed her face with a paper towel.

"Stupid question, but basically what I meant is are you done throwing up?" Cheryl corrected herself.

"Yes, pretty sure there's nothing left to come up in there."

"Oh good, because there's a new video playing out."

"I probably don't really want to know, but of what?" Emily held a hand to her stomach, willing it to get itself under control.

"You having sex with a man that clearly isn't Matt." Cheryl tried to speak the words as delicately as possible.

"What?!"

"Yeah, he's a blond, pretty nice body, couldn't really see his face though." She tried to describe the man.

"Shit." Emily cursed, before tearing past Cheryl, running out the bathroom door.

Matt was standing rooted to the same spot, mind running in circles. Emily came running up, surprising him, eyes searching the screen.

Everyone turned to look at her, the same question in their eyes, a question that wasn't any of their business. Then the screen changed again, to a still photo of six friends parked at the bar at Sloan's. Frank was clearly weaving some story, Cheryl seemed to be disagreeing with him, Duff and Lia were flirting coyly, and Matt was parked on a bar stool, Emily standing in between his legs, leaning back against him, all six were smiling. Then closer images of the subject's faces began flashing on the screen, finishing with Matt, then Emily's. Text suddenly appeared over her face.

"I"VE FOUND YOU, I CAN FIND THEM TOO." It read, before the screen suddenly went black, and turned back to a regular computer screen. All eyes turned to Emily.

"Lia, do whatever you have to do, trace that, find where it came from." Cheryl marched from the IA room, off to try and figure out how to handle this situation.

Matt and Emily walked out after her, the two agents from the safe house program following them.

"Matt-" Emily began, but turned to the two men following them, "Can you give us a minute?"

They nodded, and clearing their throats uncomfortably, walked away from the couple.

"His name is Mike," She began, referring to the blond.

"You were with him before we were together," he stated calmly.

"Yes, about a month after we were partnered." Emily was momentarily confused, she expected him to be upset.

"That's all I need to know." Her bewilderment must have been obvious, because he spoke again, "I trust you."

The grateful look in her eyes was all Matt needed to know that he was right in trusting her. They had something special, and some video that could have been shot anytime in the past, wasn't about to destroy that. But, he did need to know one thing very badly.

"Em, are you pregnant?" Matt's heart was pounding as he asked; her answer could change his life forever, and dramatically up the stakes in this game they were forced into playing.

"No. I took that test months ago, before everybody knew about us."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"I liked what we had Matt, I didn't want to wreck it by bringing reality into the picture. It was negative, it didn't matter anyway."

"It matters to me. That would have been my baby, I should have been there for you, I want to be there for you." Matt's mind was still reeling at the idea, but he knew, frightening as the prospect was, he wanted to be there for her, negative test or positive.

"I'm sorry, but if had happened a week ago, I would have told you. It's different between us now."

"Yeah, I guess it is." He agreed, truthfully, he can't say he would have reacted the same way if she'd told him then.

"We better find Cheryl, see what she wants to do about this." Emily wasn't ready to dwell on everything quite yet. To be honest, she was really looking forward to hiding out for a week in protective custody, away from the office.

Matt nodded and followed her, as she walked away from their current position, and toward Cheryl's office. Cheryl came out the door, before they even got there.

"Good, Lia just informed me that the trace came up empty, but the computer saved a copy of his little production. I need you both to help analyze it. I understand that this is difficult for you both, say the word and I'll just send you to the safe house." She couldn't force them to view that footage again, and she wouldn't.

They looked at each other again, confirming silently that they'd stay, before turning to her. "We're okay," Matt answered for both of them. If they could survive it once, they could survive it twice.

"Okay, then let's get into the IA room." She led back to the room they'd just fled, which seemed to be leaking analysts, who were all leaving, with the exception of Lia.

"I thought it best to limit the eyes in here," Cheryl informed them, seeing their questioning looks. The only people left in the room were the six friends, Temple and Binder, whose objectivity would be badly needed.

"Okay Lia, start the video playing." Lia smacked a few keys and the grainy black and white sex tape was back on the screen. Lia doubled the typical speed, quickly arriving at the more graphic sex tape.

"Stop there," Emily instructed, surprising everyone. Had she already had enough?

Lia stopped it, feeling distinctly uncomfortable studying her friends having sex.

"He's making a statement with the two tapes, he's saying 'I'm worse.' I thought the tape by Jensen was bad, was humiliating, he'll remove all the stops and make it unbearable." She tried her best to be objective, to be the trained psychologist she was, not a woman staring at a very private moment, feeling violated beyond anything in her life.

"Right, makes sense, he wants to destroy you. Do you think there's significance to the clip he chose?" Cheryl played along, deciding to let Emily do this whatever way she needed to.

"Definitely, he's been watching me a long time. He knew that would be an important moment for us, special to me, so he ruined it. I won't think about that moment for what it was, I'll think about the madman that broadcast it to the world."

"It's also about control and power," Matt added. "He wants to expose Emily, take away her power, and he's doing it by showing off her private life."

Cheryl nodded, "keep playing Lia."

They cycled through the first set of stills until Temple stopped them. "This one's easy, with all these shots, taken all over the place, he's clearly telling her that he's everywhere she is. He's following her all the time, every place she goes. He wants her to start looking over her shoulder."

"Any significance to the specific shots?"

"No, it's more to them as a whole, because they're so generalized to her everyday life, he's telling her he's omnipresent and encompassing."

"Alright, let's move on. Shower scene."

"Similar purpose to the sex tapes, and the last few stills with the pregnancy test. These are private things that nobody else is supposed to see me do, he's showing them to the world. He's trying to expose me, as Matt said earlier. And, if you want to go more basic, all of my coworkers seeing me naked is pretty humiliating." Emily used 'me' and 'I', but may as well have been saying Bob; this wasn't personal, this was just an analysis. At least that is what she kept chanting in her head.

When she got stares at the mention of the pregnancy test, it became clear that her front wasn't going to work unless she cleared the air. Releasing the lip she'd captured between her teeth, and inhaling slowly, she offered them what they were looking for, "I'm not pregnant, I didn't cheat on Matt, the footage is old."

Realizing they were staring, the people in the room went back to staring at the footage.

"Ok, second round of stills, what are we thinking?" Cheryl tried to get them back on task.

"It's a literal take on a figure of speech, he wants to get under her skin," Matt commented, watching the images go by.

"Yeah, I agree. My apartment as skin, he's inside."

"Same with my house, doesn't matter where she goes, he'll get inside. Likewise, it doesn't matter what she does, he's already under her skin, already in her head, she'll never shake him off."

"They're also older than the earlier photos and footage. Same with the test and the last sex tape. The test was a year ago, last July…"

"So that means you would have been with Matt, not the blond?" Lia blurted the question.

"Yeah, for about a month and a half at that point. I slept with Mike, the man in the tape, the previous November, in 2005."

"So this creep has been watching you for almost two years?" Frank shifted uncomfortably, eager to pound the mystery man into the stone floor of HRT's basement.

"Yeah, that's exactly what he's saying, he's seen everything I've done for almost two years…oh jesus." Emily came to a sudden realization, earning the full attention of the tense men and women in the room.

"What? What's wrong?" Cheryl demanded, nervously.

"He was using Stan, this whole time, he knew exactly what he was doing." Emily stared at the image on the screen, not really seeing it, lost in her epiphany.

Her coworkers looked lost, until Matt seemed to catch on, always in tune to his partner's thoughts. "Shit, he was planning to do something."

Emily nodded, the slightest start to a grin on her face. They were figuring him out, they would catch him, and this nightmare would end.

"You want to fill the rest of us in?" Frank asked.

"Stan was his cover and his scapegoat. He didn't make himself known until Stan starting popping up, which he knew because he was watching me. He knew anything he did would fall on Stan, because he's the face I saw, he's the one we labeled as a stalker. This guy, he was going to do something and knew that we'd all assume it was Stan."

"But then Stan got caught, and Emily pretty much told this guy to go to hell, so he had to change his plans. She hurt him, made it pretty clear he never had a chance with her, so he gets angry, and wants to hurt her back. But, he was planning something even before now, and we never would have caught him, we never even would have thought to look…damn it." Matt ran a hand through his hair, increasingly upset knowing how close he came to losing Emily.

"We'll, now he won't get close enough," Cheryl offered, sensing his concern. "Soon as we're done here, those agents will take you to get some clothes, and then off to a safe house."

"What about the rest of you? He made it pretty clear that he'll go after you four also." Even in the midst of her personal hell, Emily was worried for her friends.

"I'll put agents on us around the clock." She looked toward Lia and Duff, "Do I need to put two agents on each of you, or will one suffice?"

Lia looked nervously at Duff, she certainly didn't want to be alone anytime soon. Duff caught this easily, and turned to Cheryl, "One set will be enough."

"What about this Mike guy, he was on the tape too?" Frank wondered.

"I don't think we have to worry, I wouldn't know where to find him, so I doubt this guy will."

"So, can we establish a profile on him?" Cheryl wanted to get that done, so she could send Matt and Emily off.

"Obviously a sociopath," Temple offered.

"Yeah, his parents were probably distant. I'd say he didn't talk much at school, but he watched, spent a lot of time watching his classmates." Emily commented.

"He's probably shy, not good with the girls."

"No. Not shy, a loner. He's deliberately alone, purposely distant from people, doesn't like them, consider most of them beneath him."

They were all watching the gears turn in Emily's head, as she did what she was best at, when suddenly everything went dark. The lights shut off, every alarm in the building started screaming, and the sprinklers exploded. They could barely see each other in the dark, until the emergency lights kicked on, giving the room a sinister look. It was unbelievably loud, and they were getting soaked, as they all shuffled out of the room to see agents running out of the CNU to the nearest exit at the end of the hall.

They followed, Matt pressed close to Emily, knowing this undoubtedly had something to do with their mystery stalker, and Duff with an arm around Lia, protecting the analyst, who looked terrified. It was easier to see with the sunlight from outside lighting their way, and they were at the fire escape in no time. There was a small line as the agents from the CNU began pouring down the rackety emergency stairs.

Matt tore down the steps, holding Emily's hand firmly in his, refusing to let her go for a moment. Once at the bottom, the small group gathered again, trying to stay together in the huge throng of federal agents and other Bureau personnel that fled the building. Nobody knew what was going; there was no smoke, so there was no fire. There were also no city police, SWAT, HRT, or bomb squad rushing into the building armed to the gills, so there was no bomb scare or terrorist threat.

"Cheryl! Cheryl!" Her boss yelled to her, as he worked his way through the crowd.

"Sir-"

"The hell is going on here, Cheryl?" He demanded.

She was taken aback, "I don't know sir, I'm just as confused as you are."

"Security told me the issue originated from the CNU, so you care to explain?"

"Oh shit, he's in the building," Matt breathed, uncomfortable with the idea that the guy could have gotten that close to Emily without them knowing.

"Who's in the building?"

"He's referring to Agent Lehman's stalker, the same person that froze the computers earlier." She gestured to Emily.

"You, you're the same one that made the news last month, with that little boy right?" He eyed her.

"Yes sir, Oliver Marsh was the young boy."

"Yeah…so tell me, what exactly is it about you that pisses people off?" He looked pissed himself, as if he blamed her for the disaster striking the Bureau today.

Emily was stunned by the question, and just looked at him, unable to comprehend a response.

"Sir, that's not really fair-" Cheryl started to defend her, but was cut off.

"Look around you Cheryl, this isn't fair." He shook his head at them, and walked off.

"That sucked," Emily blurted, still stunned by his question. Matt allowed the hand that had been in hers to find her back, and he rubbed it, trying to comfort her.

Everyone remained standing around, looking at each other as if the person next to them would somehow know more information. Nobody had a clue, not even the people in charge, that became painfully obvious when the LAPD's bomb squad and a dozen firefighters showed up at the same time, accompanied by the newly mobilized HRT. Duff and Frank were leading their men toward the usually unimposing building with no idea what they were going to find.

Suddenly a hand grabbed Emily, and began to pull her away from Matt, who snaked his arm around her when he felt her moving. Matt and Emily looked in the direction of the hand to see a man looking intently at Emily. He had a mop of light brown hair that on a younger man could pass as a tribute to Kurt Cobain's style, but on the this man pushing fifty, it was simply disturbing. His hazel eyes were lit up like a Christmas tree, shining on Emily. His lips were too full for a man, bee-stung and the small mustache only made them appear bigger.

Suddenly, he yanked out a black device, and pressed it against Matt's hand, releasing Emily for only that moment, and shocking the couple. They stumbled apart, and before anyone had the time to react to the situation, he cranked up the amps, and lunged at Matt, hitting him again. Matt's body shook violently, as Emily regained her senses and threw herself at the mustached man, pushing him and his taser away from Matt. His body stopped shaking, and he dropped to the ground like dead weight.

Having the attention of every FBI agent in Los Angeles, he held the taser a millimeter from Emily's head, making them aware of his threat. Emily stared at Matt's body in horror, now still in her captor's grip. Cheryl bent to take Matt's pulse, and after a few seconds, looked up at Emily and nodded. Relief flooded through her body, but she was still worried what that much electricity could have done to him.

"All of you lot, back the hell up and drop those guns if you don't want to see me fry the young lady's brains," he announced, his grip on Emily going from her wrist, to an arm wrapped around her throat.

Cheryl motioned everyone back, and they all tossed their guns down and held up empty hands as the madman turned a circle checking. Lia juggled her phone with shaking hands, dialing 911, fear racing through her veins.

"Okay, you have our attention now. I'm sure you know who I am, so I won't bother with introductions, but I do need to ask about your plans with Emily." Cheryl spoke slowly and calmly, something she wasn't feeling just then.

"Yes, Cheryl, I do know you. Emily and I are going to walk out of here, and I'm not going to reveal my plans with her, but you should know that you won't ever be seeing her again."

Emily's skin crawled at the familiar smooth, easy tone of his voice. She'd die willingly if she never had to hear his voice again.

"You know I can't let you do that…can you give me something to call you?"

He thought for a moment, "you can call me Cheryl." Using her own name would surely unnerve her and make things that much more difficult.

"Okay Cheryl, why such an interest in Emily?" She over-ennuciated her name, annoyed with him.

"Quite simple really. I'm in love with her."

"Yeah? Well, she's in love too, but not with you. She's in love with the man you just nearly killed." Keep calm, make him see reality, try to appeal to his intelligence, he'll be offended by accusations that he's delusional.

"Nearly? Damn, I was going for all the way. Taser guns just aren't what they used to be these days."

"Do you really think she could love you after what you did to him?" She questioned the madman as the paramedics finally arrived and took care of Matt.

"I know she doesn't love me, but she deserves better than him." He said it with such honesty and intensity, it almost seemed as if he did love Emily.

"So then what could you possibly hope to gain from dragging her away with you?"

"I don't plan on trying to make her love me. I'm not stupid, I know you can't force someone to do that. But, I have to feel her, even just once. I have to hold her in my arms, like he does, just one night."

"And what happens after that one night?" Cheryl struggled to keep her voice even, to keep from looking into Emily's eyes and seeing the revulsion and desperation present in them.

"What do you think SAC Carrera?" He mimicked an army cadet's tone.

"I think…I think she stops breathing."

He gave her a half-smile, "at least you're not in denial." He went to open his mouth, but didn't have time to comment any further as something cold and metal was pressed up against his head.

"Don't move a muscle, I will shoot you," Lia spoke the words with conviction she didn't feel, fear radiating through her whole body.

"Why Miss Mathers, you are the last person I'd expect to pick up a gun," he said it almost with glee.

Emily had been directing her with her eyes for the last few minutes, and Cheryl watched Lia creep behind the man with a gun she'd picked up, encouraging her further.

"That's why I did it, now drop the taser and let her go." Lia struggled to keep her hands from shaking, and caught a pair of familiar eyes in the distance. HRT had shuffled back out of the building with the firefighters and bomb experts, and Duff stood watching her, surprise in his eyes at first, but then he nodded at her.

"I don't think so dear, you are going to have to shoot me." His voice still had a disturbingly jovial tone to it.

Lia looked alarmed at Cheryl, she couldn't do that, she couldn't shoot somebody. She shot at the firing range with Duff before, but she could never kill someone. She didn't know what to do now; he was calling her bluff.

"It's okay Lia," Cheryl tried to ease her, walking closer.

"Stop there Cheryl, or you get to watch Emily drool in her oatmeal for the next couple decades," he threatened, adjusting the taser for show. He was right, a shock to the head could do severe damage to her brain function, much quicker than a shock to the body could kill her.

Emily closed her eyes, scared to death for the first time in a long while. The hand at her side began to quiver, and she flexed it and tried to shake it out to no avail. Lia saw this, and swallowed, conviction suddenly driving her forward. The crowd had begun dispersing as soon as they saw Lia with the gun, giving her a clear shot; the bullet would fly and hit the neighboring building.

Lia chambered a round, and flicked the safety switch off, hands sweating profusely. "One last time," she breathed, "drop the taser."

His response was to giggle, "I didn't think you had it in you, and I still don't."

Lia swallowed the lump in her throat, gave one last glance at Duff, who nodded his support, and squeezed the trigger.

The man screamed and grabbed his ear, dropping the taser and releasing Emily, blood pouring from where his ear used to be. Had she been farther away, only god know what Lia would have hit, but that close it's hard to miss, even when your target is an ear.

Emily stumbled away, ears ringing and legs barely working, the ordeal having long since turned them to jello. A dozen agents scrambled all at once to grab their handcuffs and slap them on the bleeding man. Another dozen ran over to Emily, eager to see if their colleague was alright. A third dozen rushed to a very stunned Lia, who held the gun steady another moment before dropping it, her own legs making it difficult to stand. Duff made his way over, pushing through the crowd surrounding her, and enveloping her in a comforting hug. Cheryl attempted to direct the chaos, and demanded paramedics, many paramedics.

* * *

By the end of business the Bureau was allowed to have it's building back, though they didn't actually bother keeping anybody around. After the chaotic, frightening events of the day, they sent everyone home, at that point they didn't have a building anyway. Their only instructions were that anybody with trouble dealing see one of the Bureau's shrinks. Everybody had left gladly, cars pouring from the underground parking garage eager to leave that day behind them.

Six of the Bureau's personnel weren't home though, they were camped out in a hospital room, the sixth of them having finally woken from his electricity-induced sleep. Vincent Riesden, a courier for FBI-LA, had already been transferred to the nearest federal prison to await trial, his ear gone forever, but his head sewed up and no longer bleeding. After the paramedics checked out Emily and Lia, and saw that both were fine physically, they released them, warning Emily that if anything felt wrong over the next few days, she should see her doctor.

The group had piled into one of the black SUVs that HRT was so fond of, and Frank drove to the hospital, lights flashing, sirens blaring, and pissed off LA drivers honking. They nearly had an issue with the nurse until four of them whipped out their badges, proof that they would get what they wanted, regardless if anyone wanted to give it to them or not. Then again, the stressed expressions gracing all their faces was enough to make anyone back away and let them have anything they wanted.

Matt woke up about an hour after they got there, eyes immediately searching for Emily, terrified her psychotic attacker grabbed her. The hospital was keeping him overnight, but told them he'd be fine.

"You shot his ear off?" Matt asked Lia incredulously, after they'd filled him in.

She only shrugged, she didn't really feel like talking about it, still very shaken from the experience. Duff had had an arm around her since he's found her in the throng of people at the Bureau building.

"So, you're feeling okay?" Cheryl asked Matt, not totally convinced after she saw his body dancing involuntarily at the end of that taser.

"Yeah, they said it was enough to knock me out, but not kill me." Matt yawned, he had just woken up, but after the last few days, he was beyond exhausted.

Frank followed with his own enormous yawn, "don't do that Flannery, it's catching."

Matt chortled, watching as the yawn spread through the room, ending with Duff."

"So I think that's as good a sign as any, time we all get home and get to bed." Cheryl announced.

"Amen," Frank grunted, yawning again.

"I don't want to see anybody in the office tomorrow, and you three," she gestured to Lia, Emily, and Matt, "I don't want to see for, at the very least, two days. And, don't grumble, you have to pay a visit to one of the Bureau's therapists when you're ready to come back."

There was a round of nods and grumbling; they knew it was coming, just hoped it wouldn't be.

"You playing taxicab Frank?" Duff asked, they'd all come together.

"As long as you don't mind trying to catch a cab in the morning."

Duff shrugged, "we'll take Lia's car tomorrow."

"Cheryl?" Frank asked.

"You can drop me back at the Bureau, I hate trying to get a cab in the morning."

"Emily, you hanging out here?" He figured she would be, who would want to go home alone after that?

She nodded, not moving from the chair next to Matt's bed, she wouldn't want to be alone for a while.

"Right, get better Flannery!" Frank shouted as he led the small group out and off to get a good night's sleep.

"Hey, you were quiet," Matt commented, glad to be alone with her.

She didn't answer, but he could see the front she set up beginning to fall, her eyes telling him everything he needed to know, her tears an answer to his question. He lifted the sheet up from the bed, gesturing for her to join him. She didn't even bother to think about it, just kicked her shoes off, and crawled under the covers with him. This had been too much for her, especially after the previous month with Tobin Jensen. There would be a lot of nightmares, she'd look over her shoulder regularly, be very weary of strangers, and have a considerable amount of awkwardness with her coworkers. This wasn't something she could bounce back from, it would stay with her forever. But, Vincent Riesden hadn't destroyed her as he set out to; she was still alive, and had everything that was important to her.

* * *

_An end to this one as I promised. If only I could get the other two to go this quick. Anyway, thank all for reading, and the reviews were very greatly appreciated!_


End file.
